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i-MITiiB

"The Duke gives the iiiagio word, ' Tlie Whole Line Will Advance ' ' ( /■. 70).

Battles

OF THE

Nineteenth Century

DESCRIBED BV

ARCHIBALD FORBES, G. A. HENTY,
MAJOR ARTHUR GRIFFITHS,

And other Well-known Writers

Vol. I.

SPECIAL EDITION

WITH COLOURED PLATES AND NUMEROUS OTHER ILLUSTRATLONS

C A S S E L L AND COMPANY, Limited

LONDON, PARIS, NEW YORK & MELBOURNE

CONTENTS.

FACE

Introduction. By Major Arthur Griffiths i

Saarbruck : The Baptism of Fire. Aug. 2, 1870. By Archibald Forbes . . . . .22

The Storming of the Taku Forts. June 25, 1859— Aug. 21, i860. By A. Milliard Atteridge . 27

Palermo : The Coming of Garibaldi. May — June, i860. By Stoddard Dewey .... 35
The Red Man's Last Victory : The Fight of the Little Big Horn. June ig — 27, 1876. By

Angus Evan Abbott 43

Waterloo. June 18, 1815. By D. H. Parry 51

Koniggratz (or SADO^VA). July 3, 1866. By Charles Lowe 74

Ayacucho. Dec. 9, 1824. By W. B. Robertson 85

The First Battle of Bull Run. July 21, 1861. By Angus Evan Abbott 92

The July Battles Before Plevna. July 20— July 30, 1877. By Archibald Forbes . . .101

The Shangani Patrol. Dec. 3—4, 1893. By E. F, Knight no

The Siege and Storming of Delhi. May — Sept., 1857. By Charles Lowe 120

GiSLlKON. Nov. 23, 1847. By A. J. Butler . . . , 137

Insandhlwana. Jan. 22, 1879. By C. Stein 147

LissA, July 20, 1866. By A. Milliard Atteridge 156

MacMahon at Magenta. June 4, 1859. By Stoddard Dewey 164

The Battle of the Alma. Sept. 20, 1854. By Major Arthur Griffiths 174

AUSTERLITZ. Dec. 2, 1805. By C. Stein 183

Kassassin and Tel-el-Kebir. Sept. 9 and Sept. 13, 1882. By Charles Lowe . . . .195

Shiloh. April 6 — 7, 1862. By Angus Evan Abbott 205

Amoaful. Jan. 31, 1874. By G. A. Henty 215

The Redoubts of Duppel. April 18, 1864. By Charles Lowe 224

Roberts' Battles About Cabul. Sept. — Dec, 1879. By Archibald Forbes 234

CuSTOZZA. June 24, 1866. By A. Milliard Atteridge 247

The Taking of Badajoz. April 6, 1812. By D. H. Parry 256

The Blockade of Callao. Nov., 1820. By W. B. Robertson 267

The Taking of the Gate Pah. April 27, 1864. By A. Milliard Atteridge 276

Warsaw. Sept. 6—7, 1831. By A. S. Krausse 284

The Storming of the Nilt Forts. Dec, 1891. By E. F. Knight 290

Aspromonte. Aug. 29, 1862. By Charles Lowe , . , . 299

Napoleon's Moscow Campaign. June — Dec, 1812. By D. H. Parry 30?

Rorke's Drift. Jan. 22, 1879. By C. Stein 330

Mars-la-Tour (Vionville or Rezoxville). Aug. 16, 1870. By Charles Lowe . . . .341

The Retreat of Corunna. Nov., 1808— Jan., 1809. By D. H. Parry 354

Navarino. Oct. 20, 1827. By Merbert Russell . 365

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE

Sir John Moore ......... 3

" He fell furiously on his nearest enemies " ... 4

Marshal Ney ......... 5

Marshal Soult 5

Sir Charles Napier ........ 7

Lord Gough 8

Charge of cavalry through the breaches at Sobraon . . 9

Sir Colin Campbell 10

Sir James Outram 11

Sir Henry Havelock . . . . . . . .11

"'This gun belongs to my regiment — 2nd Goorkha,

Prince of Wales's ! ' " 12

The Maori War : Attack upon the Orakao Pah. . . 13
Frederick, Crown Prince of Prussia (afterwards German

Emperor) • 15

Sir Garnet (afterwards Viscount) Wolseley ... 16
The " Black Watch " (42nd Royal Highlanders) at bay at

Quatre Bras . , 17

General Grant ......... 19

" They came right in among our men " .... 20

Lord William Beresford and the Trooper . . . .21

Plan of the Battle of Saarbriick 23

Saarbruck 24

Lulu's Debut 25

Plans of the Taku Forts operations 28

"' What have you been doing, you rascals ?'" . . . 29

" Rogers got in, helped up by Lieutenant Lenon " . • 33

" The Picciotti picked off their men " . . . . 36

Palermo Harbour ........ 37

"' General, it smiles on you !' ' ..... 40

The coast of Palermo, looking towards Termini . . 41

The erection of the barricades 42

"Until one day a grizzly trapper peered out of the

bushes" ......... 44

" And the Sioux saw in amazement the long train of

white-topped waggons " . . . . . .44

" The warriors danced the war-dance " . . . . 45

Plan of the Battle of Little Big Horn .... 46

"They plunged into the seething mass of painted and

befeathered red men " . ...... 49

The farm of Quatre Bras 52

Picton's Division off to the front 53

The field of Waterloo on the morning of the battle . . 56

" A shout of ' Vive I'Empereur ' rolled along the field" . 57

Sir Thomas Picton • • 59

The farm of Hougoumont ....... 60

" Some got as far as the loopholes and seized the

bayonets" ......... 61

Defence of La Haye Sainte by the German Legion . . 64

"A gallant artillery driver rushed his horses to the wall " . 65

La Haye Sainte 68

The Union Brigade capturing the French guns at Waterloo 69

I -a Belle Alliance 72

Mont St. Jean 72

Marshal Bliicher . ... . . . -73

" Major von Ungar came spurring in with a great piece of

news " 76

Koniggratz 77

Plan of the Battle of Koniggratz .... 78

General Benedek ........ 79

"The Prussians pushed battery after battery into action" 80
" Boldly the Prussians advanced upon this village and its

wood " ......... 8r

Gravestones erected on the battlefield in memory of the

fallen 83

" The Crown Prince rode up and met his father " . . 84

Plan of the Battle of Ayacucho 86

"■ There lies my last horse !' " ...... 88

" The routed Spaniards clambered up the rugged sides " . 89

Lima 91

"They would not keep in rank, order as much as you

pleased " 93

Plan of the Battle of Bull Run 94

General Sherman 96

"Time after time the attempt to scale the height was

made " .....,.., 97

General " Stonewall " Jackson ...... 99

" The army of the North broke and fled, panic-stricken " . 100

Plan of the second Battle of Plevna 102

Grand Duke Nicholas . 103

"The General had risen and was standing against a tree" 104

" Then there followed a headlong rush " .... 105

" They gathered to the sound " 108

Environs of Plevna ........ 109

Mr. Riley, Umjan, and Mr. Dawson . . . . .112

" They fought on grimly " 113

The Shangani Patrol : Plan 114

Zimba'owe temple and kraal 116

" He sold his life dearly " 117

Lobengula .......... 118

" The cool-headed signaller died at his post " . . . 121

Jumma Musjid, Delhi ....... 124

"The officers then, having helped the women to follow,

carried them up the opposite side " , . . . 125

Major Tombs 127

"It was bayonet to bayonet" 128

Plan of Delhi and environments 129

The Palace, and the Chandnee Chouk, Delhi . . . 132

" Our devoted men worked on with a will " . . . 133

The Victoria Cross 136

At Bern 138

Lucerne and surrounding district 139

At Fiibourg 140

" Major Scherrer seized the colours " 141

The neighbourhood of Gislikon 143

" Rust's battery galloped through Honau " . . . 145

Lake Zug 146

King Cetewayo 148

" The camp was a picturesque sight " .... 149

Vicinity of Insandhlwana : Plan .... 151

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

" They raised the ominous Zulu war shout, and dashed

forward " 153

Lord Chelmsford i55

" From this point Tegethoff kept on the bridge " . .157

Shores and ports of the Adriatic 158

The Battle of Lissa, 10 a.m. The fleets closing . . 159

Trieste Harbour 160

" The ram crushed in her iron side " 161

" General LebcEuf dashed up " 165

" On the track lay a body covered with a blue cloak " . 168

" In their frenzy his Zouaves broke through the defences " 169

Plan of the Battle of Magenta 170

" He dictated the telegraphic de.spatch " .... 172

" The doctors began their all night's work "... 173

Prince Mentschikoff 175

The Heights of Alma 176

"Then young Anstruther raced forward" . . . . 177

Marshal St. Arnaud 178

Plan of the Battle of Alma i79

The Highlanders at Alma ....... 180

■' Turner himself hurried up two of his guns" . . . i8x

Lord Raglan 182

" The saying passed, ' Our Emperor does not make use of

our arms in this war so much as of otu- legs ' " . . 184

Napoleon Bonaparte 185

Marshal" Prince Murat (afterwards King of Naples) . . 188

" Thousands of lights flared upwards " .... 189

Charge of the Chevalier Guards 192

Plan of the Battle of Austerlitz 193

The Sweet-Water Canal at Ismailia ..... 196

" The Egyptian battalions had been trampled and sabred

into positive annihilation " . . . . . . 197

Plan of the Battles of Tel-el-Kebir and Kassassin . . 198

The Valley of the Saba Bier 200

" Carrying them with the bayonet " 201

Arabi Paiha 202

Arabi surrendering to General Drury Lowe . . . 204

Shiloh battle-field 208

The march to Shiloh ......... 209

Plan of the Battle of Shiloh 211

Shiloh battle-field : scene where General Johnston fell . 212

" Up the bank they struggled and scrambled" . . , 213

President Lincoln . 214

Cape Coast Castle 216

" The Bonny men led the advance " ..... 217

Mapof Ashanti 219

" Each little rise was held obstinately by the enemy " . 221

Coomassie 223

Field-Marshal von Wrangel 225

Map shoeing the position of Duppel 227

Prince Frederick Charles 228

The German soldiers making sentries out of clay . . 229

The Prussians attacking the Danish breastworks . . 232

Lieutenant Anker taken prisoner 233

The British Residency after the attack .... 236

" He held a durbar " 237

Cabul 240

" Colonel Cleland led his lancers " 241

Plan of Roberts' battles about Cabul 242

North end of Sherpur entrenchments, Cabul . . . 244

" The roar surged forward " ...... 245

Sir Frederick Roberts in 1880 ...... 246

Sketch map of the war in Italy in 1866 .... 248

Verona 249

Archduke Albert 252

The charge of the Austrian lancers 253

Plan of the Battle of Custozza 254

Badajoz 257

Map of Spain and Portugal to illustrate the Peninsular War 260

"The next, they were leaping, sliding, climbing" • . . 261

PAG»

Plan of Badajoz in 1812 264

"' Will you drink, old boy?' " ...... 265

Lord Cochrane . 268

Valparaiso .......... 269

Plan of Callao in 1819 271

" The Chilian cutlasses swept the deck " .... 273

The attack on the Gate Pah 277

Plan of the Gate Pah and surroundings .... 279

" The brave fellow brought him out at considerable risk ". 280

The Gate Pah after occupation 281

A Maori dwelling ........ 283

Old town, Warsaw 285

Plan of the Russian operations against Warsaw . , 286

Emperor Nicholas 287

"The Russians closed up in their strength and charged

with their bayonets " 288

The Jews' market, Warsaw 289

Sketch map to illustrate the Hunza Nagar campaign . 292

" Captain Aylmer ignited the fuse" ..... 293

" He actually succeeded in climbing quite alone " . . 296

Nilt forts, from the south 297

Gilgit Residency ........ 298

General Garibaldi 300

" Everywhere this free-lance evoked enthusiasm " . . 301

Garibaldi's movements of 1862 : Plan .... 302

Catania 304

" Raising his cap in the air he cried, ' Viva I'ltalia' " . 305

King V'ictor Emmanuel ....... 306

Alexander I., Czar of Russia 308

General view of the city of Moscow 309

Napoleon's march from the Niemen to Moscow : Plan . 310

Gardens of the Kremlin 312

Napoleon's entry into Moscow 313

Plan of the Battle of Borodino 3:4

General Junot ......... 316

The retreat from Moscow 317

' ' A mutilated spectre crawled towards the startled soldiers " 320

Smolensk from the banks of the Dnieper in 1812 . . 321

Napoleon's retreat from Moscow : Plan .... 324

" The Engineer set fire to their sole means of escape " . 325

" In a towering passion the Marshal drew his sword" . 328

Lieutenant Chard , . 332

Lieutenant Bromhead ....... 332

Rorke's Drift at the present time 333

Plan showing the lines of communication in the Zulu

campaign 335

Defence of Rorke's Drift : Plan 336

" There was a hand-to-hand struggle " .... 337

" The British flag still waved over the storehouse " . . 340

Count Von Moltke 344

" The Prussians pushed into the woods, driving the French

skirmishers from them " 345

Plan of the Battle of Mars-la-Tour 346

Map showing scope of operations of the Franco-German

War of 1870-71 348

Mitrailleuse 349

Marshal Bazaine 351

Charge of the i6th Uhlans 352

French uniforms in 1870 ....... 353

Map showing neighbourhood of Corunna .... 356

" A hussar dashed in with the news that the enemy were

upon us " 357

Corunna 360

Death of Sir John Moore 361

The bmial of Sir John Moore 362

Zante 365

Plan of the Battle of Navarino 368

" The battle was maintained with unabated fury for above

four hours" 369

Navarino 370

LIST OF PLATES.

The Duke gives the magic word, "The whole line will advance!" (Coloured)

Frontispiece

Sergeant Ewart capturing the eagle at Waterloo (Coloured) . To face p. 62

The stormers dashed over the dAbris of the breach . . . To/ace p. 132

Simultaneously followed the levelled bayonets of Suchet's division (Coloured)

To face p. i<)o

The Fifth Division storming by escalade the ramparts of San Vincente

To face p. 262

When the remnant of the Guard was seen clearing a way for the Emperor
there was a rush To jace p. 326

BY MAJOR ARTHUR GRIFFITHS

" BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH

CENTURY"—

the words are
like a trumpet-
call, summoning up in
array before us a hun-
dred familiar forms of great
soldiers — Napoleon and
Wellington, Grant and
]Moltke, MacMahon and
Garibaldi — great soldiers
of all nations — great
soldiers long dead, and
great soldiers still living.
Let us glance for an in-
stant or two, in this intro-
duction, at the individual
careers of some of the most famous of them ere
we pass on to the pages which shall deal with
their exploits, battle b}- battle, and shall tell
an detail of their skill and prowess, and their
fortunes of war, their victories and their defeats.

The earliest wars of the present century were
ne nursery of military reputations, and in them
jvpral great soldiers grew on to imperishable
ame. Two figures stand out prominently, a
head and shoulders above all the rest — Napoleon
and Wellington. It is needless to compare or
contrast them — Napoleon, the Emperor-
General, sole arbiter of the fate of millions ;
Wellington, the lo3-al servant of his country,
who put duty before mere glory, and whose
first thought in his triumphs was the vindication
of the national honour and the re-establishment
of peace.

Napoleon was all for self; but this very

selfishness re-acted on his surroundings, and
elicited an unbounded, unquestioning devotion
to his person, which was the parent of many
heroic deeds. Men suffered themselves to be
cut to pieces to win a word of his approval ; the
wounded raised themselves in their agony to
cheer on their comrades ; the dying with their
last gasp cried '■"Vwe V Empcreiir ! "

Over and above the glamour of his personal
ascendancy, and his long-sustained prestige,
Napoleon had a still stronger hold upon his
followers, in that he held the supreme power in
his own hands, the sole and exclusive right to
reward or blame. Small wonder, therefore, if
the soldiers of the First Empire were among the
finest types of their class. No military regime
has ever brought better men to the front or
secured them more rapid advancement. Pro-
motion to the very highest grades was to
be had for the earning of it. How fast men
rose from the lowest rungs to the top of
the ladder will be understood from a few pro-
minent cases. Marshal Ney was the son of an
old soldier, and threw up a small appointment
to enlist as a private hussar ; Massena, the Prince
of Essling's father, kept a wine-shop in Nice,
and the. marshal had begun life as a cabin-boy ;
Lannes' father was a livery stable-keeper, and
Augereau the son of a mason. Junot was a
sergeant of artillery at the siege of Toulon, who
first attracted Napoleon's attention by his cool-
ness under fire : a round shot kicked up the
dust close to where Junot was receiving an order
in writing, and the young sergeant, unmoved,
merely said, "^That will do to dry the ink."

Wellington could not have made use of
such incentives tc valour as Napoleon did,

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

even if he had had them at his command.
But he did not need them. It was with the
British rank and tile as with their generals :
they did their best because it was their duty,
and it was there to do. They fought because
they were expected to fight, and fought well,
because they liked it. So it was that throughout
the long campaign in Spain the British were
almost invariably successful. Wherever they
met the enemy, they beat them. Even at
Corunna, after a long and disastrous retreat,
overmatched by numbers, led for a time by
Napoleon himself. Sir John Moore turned on
his pursuers, and snatched a difficult victory at
the expense of his own life. He was struck
down just as the French were repulsed, but his
troops, undismayed, continued the action, which
ended entirely in our favour, and permitted us
to re-embark without loss. Moore's death on
the battle-field has been honoured in song ; it
was a hero's death, and to the last moment he
would not surrender his sword, although the hilt
had entered the wound. His bod^' had to
be buried on the battle-field ; and it is greatly
to the credit of a chivalrous foe that the French,
recognising his merit, raised a monument over
his remains.

Wellington's career was one of almost un-
equalled success. If he was compelled to retreat
more than once, it was only to make a newer
and a bolder advance. In all his battles he
was victorious : thanks to his own great genius
and the matchless bravery of his troops. The
Peninsular records are full of great deeds done
on great battle-fields, in combats, charges, and
on the deadly breach ; and in this book of
ours we shall have pictured to us fully and com-
pletely the scenes of these deeds of valour and
heroism : but here let us just glance at two
or three of Wellington's victories to see what
stuff he and his troops were made of. That
passage of the Douro, for instance, in i8oq,
when he crossed in the face of Soult and a
veteran army — one of his most brilliant exploits.
Do you remember how Colonel Waters, one of
his staff-officers, got over aldne in a skiff and
brought back three barges, and how, when the
first boat was ready with its petty complement
of twent3'-five, he said simply, " Let the men
cross ' ; and how this handful gained a foothold
which they never relaxed till their comrades
followed in thousands, and the surprised French
were driven out of the town ?

Talavera was both a general's and a soldiers'
battle : the first because Wellington (then only

Sir Arthur Wellesley) showed that imperturb-
able coolness and self-reliance, mixed prescience
of danger and promptitude in meeting it.
which are the highest qualities of leadership ;
the second, because it was won mainly by a
single regiment, which acted with marvellous
precision and courage at the decisive point just
in the nick of time. The French in this battle
were the assailants : the genius of their soldiers
is for onslaught, and their greatest deeds have
been in attack. But they were met and repulsed.
It was of Talavera that Jomini, the well-known
military writer, said it proved that the British
infantry could dispute the palm with the best in
Europe. Another instance of its prowess of
another kind was shown at Talavera, when
Crawfurd's famous Light Brigade of the 43rd,
52nd, and 95th Regiments came up, determined
at all costs to take part in the action. They
met crowds of Spanish fugitives, who declared
the English army was defeated, its general a
prisoner, the French only a few miles off. But
still they pressed on undaunted, and " leaving
onl}^ seventeen stragglers behind," says Napier,
''in twenty-six hours crossed the field of battle,
a compact body, having during the time marched
sixty-two English miles in the hottest season of*
the year, each man carrying from fifty to i^ixty
pounds weight."

At Busaco, again, the French were the assail-
ants : veteran troops led by some of the bravest
of French generals ; and their numbers gave
them the advantage. But the British were
-Strongly posted on a craggy ridge of hills, so
strongly that it was thought the French leader,
Massena, would not attack. '' But if he does, I
shall beat him," replied Wellington quietly ; and
he did. The French fought with signal braver}-,
but the ascent was toilsome, and they were met
b}' men as brave.

In the retreat before the battle, two affecting
incidents occurred which showed the quality
of the soldiers Wellington commanded. There
was a man in the famous 43rd, named Stewart,
only nineteen years of age, but of gigantic
strength and stature, whose comrades called
him "The Boy." He was deeply chagrined,
and at a bridge which he was the last to cross,
he turned, and facing the French advancing
columns, he was heard to say : " So, tins is
the end of our boasting ! This is our first
battle (Talavera), and we retreat. The boy
Stewart will not live to hear that said."
" Then," says Napier, " striding forward in his
giant might, he fell furiously on his nearest

WELLINGTON S VICTORIES.

enemies with the bayonet, refused the quarter
they seemed desirous of granting, and died
fighting in the midst of them."

The other story tells of a still finer instance of
the noble spirit of the British soldier. It was at
the passage of the Coa, a month before Busaco,
when the 52nd would have been cut off from the
bridge but for the gallantry with which McLeod
of the 52nd came back rushing at full speed
with a couple of companies, which charged " as
if a whole army had been at their backs,'" and
repulsed the enemy. One of McLeod's officers
was the afterwards '
famous Sir George
Brown, at this time
only sixteen, who was
leading his men gal-
lantly up a slope, at
the top of which were
a couple of French-
men with muskets
levelled at him. A
sergeant interposed —
M'Ouade, himself only
twenty-four — and, pull-
ing his officer back,
with the words, " You
are too young, sir, to
be killed," offered him-
self as a target, and fell
dead, pierced by both
bullets.

Three great sieges,
ending in the storm-
ing and capture of three
strong, almost impreg-
nable, fortresses, were

among the laurels gained in Spain — laurels
tarnished, unhappil}', b}?^ the shameful excesses
of the victorious troops. When the breaches
at Ciudad Rodrigo were declared practicable,
Wellington's order was simply, " The place
must be stormed this evening "' ; his soldiers'
still simpler comment, " We will uo it." The
forlorn hope raced up to their death, followed
by the no less eager body of stormers, and
the main breach was carried with a furious
shout. At Badajoz, Phillipon, the brave
Frenchman, stood at bay to the last, and the
'' possession of Badajoz had become a point
of personal honour with the soldiers of each

nation Ridge had himself placed

a ladder where the wall was low, and climbed
it ; a second ladder alongside gave access to
another officer, Canch; and as soon as these two

were on the ramparts the stormers followed, and
gained possession.'' Yet the fight elsewhere con-
tinued for hours, and Wellington had to organise
a second assault, and the captors of the castle
were in some danger, although inside the town.
Badajoz was taken, but at tremendous cost.
No age, no nation, ever sent forth braver troops
to battle than those who stormed Badajoz.

In the course of this book we shall hear
much more of these triumphs of Wellington :
how at Salamanca he caught Marmont in an
egregious tactical error, fell upon him in flank,
and defeated 40,000
men in forty minutes ;
how at Vittoria he
routed King Joseph,
beating him at every
point, and capturing
ever3'thing the French
possessed : " all their
equipages, all their
guns, all their treasure,
all their stores, all
their papers"; how,
in the Pyrenees, pitted
against Soult, Napo-
leon's ablest lieutenant,
he won battle after
battle : at Sauroren, at
the Bidassoa, at the
Nivelle, and finally,
invading France, at
Orthez and Toulouse.
The passage of the
Adour was a combined
military and naval
operation, carried out
in the teeth of a fierce February storm. The
bridge of boats which the British staff corps
formed across the river was a " stupendous
midertaking" which ranks amongst the prodigies
of war ; for the tide rose and fell fourteen feet,
and large boats could only be employed. It
was at Orthez that Soult, thinking victory
secure, put forward all his reserves too rashly.
Then Wellington, as he watched him, smote his
thigh, and cried exultingly, " At last I have
him ! " On the spur of the moment he changed
his plan of battle, and by a turning movement
cut off Soult's line of retreat.

The greatest of all the great achievements of
the great duke was, of course, his victory at
Waterloo — a battle which will always rank
among the most important and decisive that
have been fought, because so much depended

SIR JOHN MOORE.
{After the Engraving by C. Turner.)

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

upon the issue. The only hope of securing peace
to Europe was in beating Napoleon, and it was
not easy to do it. There were moments in the
brief campaign, both before and during the great
battle which finished it, when victory hung in
the balance and inclined to the French. At
the outset, Napoleon sto-le a march upon the
Allies ; he placed his whole force at a point
between them, whence he might separate and
roll up each in turn. He beat the Prussians

" HE FELL FURIOUSLY ON HIS NEAREST ENE.MIF-S

badly at Lign}-, but Ney was checked b}- our
tenacious resistance at Ouatre Bras. Still, the
British and the Prussians retired divergently, as
it is called; and had Napoleon followed up quickly,
he might have fought them one by one. But
Wellington drew off, retreating — not without
danger — upon Waterloo ; and Blucher. recover-
ing his communications vrith us, was able to
come up at the close of the great fight, and
make victory the more complete.

By degrees new men, imbued with much the
same high qualities, replaced the veterans of
Spain and Waterloo ; but till more than half the
century was ended it was the generals who had
been trained to war under Wellington who
chiefly led the troops to victory and maintanied

British prestige. Charles Napier in Scinde^
Hugh Gough in the Punjaub, Fitzroy-Somerset
(Lord Raglan) in the Crimea, Colin Campbell,
afterwards Lord Clyde, in China, the Crimea,
and India, had all learnt and practised their
profession in the early wars. They were all,
however, men advanced in ^-ears before they
came to a supreme command in the field. The
long peace after Waterloo, lasting some thirty
vears, denied soldiers all chance of active service,
and it was not till Sir Charles
Napier was sixty years ot age
that He found himself winning
battles on his own account.
Sir Hugh Gough was older by
five years when he led an army
against the Sikhs, and began
the difficult conquest of the
Punjaub. Lord Raglan was
also an aged man when he was
selected to command our armies
in the Russian war of 1854-5.

Both Napier and Gough had
won early laurels in Spain, and
both as majors, temporarily it.
command of their regiments,
had helped to win great battles,
and paid in their persons for
their valour. Napier was with
Sir John Moore at Corunna.
and at the head of the 50th (the
gallant "Half-hundred") had
repulsed the French attack at
one important point. Then
when — to quote another Napier,
his brother, and the famous
historian of the war — " he was
encompassed by enemies and
denied quarter, he received five wounds. But he
still fought and struggled for life till a French
drummer, with a generous heart and indignation,
forcibly rescued him from his barbarous assailants.' '
The wounds he received were terrible : he had
his leg broken by a bullet, a sabre-cut laid open
his head, and he had had a bayonet stab in his
back. It Avas at this battle of Corunna, when
the young major (he was oniv twenty-six at the
time) took command, that he found his men 0/
the line wavering under the fierce fire. In order
to steady them, he put them through r^everai
movements of the manual exercise, ordering
them to " Slope arms I " " Carry arms ! " and s •
on, until the}- recognised his voice and hardened
under his hand.

Hugh Gough like Charles Napier, owed to

RAGLAN AND COLIN CAMPBELL.

:he chance absence of his colonel the oppor-
tunity of winning early distinction. As a major,
of barely thirty, he was in command of his
regiment — the gallant 87th, long famous as the
Irish Fusiliers — at the battle of Talavera, Avhere
he was severely wounded, but so distinguished
himself as to earn promotion ; he w^as at the
head of the 87th when they made their famous
charge at Barrosa, which decided the fate of that
hard-fought day ; and he was so foremost in the
repulse of the French from Tarifa that he re-
ceived the sword of the French leader when he
failed in his assault upon the town.

Lord Raglan had never commanded troops in
the field, but he had been the secretary and
close confidant of the Iron Duke, his companion
in every campaign ; as Fitzroy-Somerset, he
rode by Wellington's side through the da}- at
Waterloo, and was one of the few survivors of
his staff. But he lost his arm by a shot —
one of the last fired — ^just after his chief had run
imminent danger, and had been warned to with-
draw, but held his ground, saying, " Never mind ;
let them fire awa}'. The battle's won ; my life is
of no consequence now." The duke turned to
ride off the field, when a stray bullet shattered
Lord Fitzroy's arm at the elbow. It was the
right arm unfortunately, and it had to be am-
putated at once ; but Wellington retained his
services as secretary, and Lord Raglan soon

Colin Campbell was jiuiior in years and rank
to the three great soldiers just mentioned, but

MARSHAL SOULT.
{From ike Portrait by S.oztillard.')

learnt to write with his left hand, so as to«
become a neat, rapid penman.

MARSHAL NEY.
{From the Painting by F. Gerard.)

he graduated in the stirring school of war when
he was but sixteen, and learnt hardihood as a
stripling. It was the custom in those days to
send boys into the army at an age Avhen many
nowada3^s are still at school. They were brave
boys, as their successors of to-day will admit.
Let me tell you how young Campbell behaved
in his first encounter with the enemy. To
be shot at for the first time is a startling
experience. Young Campbell, at Vimiera, suf-
fered like many more, but his captain, an old
and war - hardened campaigner, seeing his
trouble, took him quickly b}' the hand, and
led him out into the front of the regiment,
upon which the enemy's guns had just be-
gun to play, and for several anxious minutes
walked him up and down under fire. The
treatment calmed him completely, and he
never knew the want of confidence again. On
the contrar}^, Colin Campbell, just five years
later, performed prodigies of valour in leading
the forlorn hope at the storming of San Sebas-
tian. He had just forced his way to the summit
of the breach, when he fell back, desperately
wounded in the hip ; but finding he could still
move forward, he re-climbed the breach, to be
fully disabled by another shot in the thigh.
Three months later he lay in hospital, with his
wounds but half healed, when he heard that
Wellington's army was on the point of invading

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

France, and he resolved to be one of the party.
Escaping from hospital, with an equally ardent
comrade, " In* dint of crawling and an occasional
lift from vehicles proceeding along the road,
they made their way to the 5th division in
which the gth were brigaded, and were in action
(on the Bidassoa) on the following day." * His
desertion from hospital was a breach of discipline,
and Campbell would have been sharply dealt with;
but in the fight he led his company so gallantly,
and was again so badly wounded, that it was im-
possible to do otherwise than praise his bravery
and ignore his bad conduct.

They were giants, these soldiers of the Penin-
sula, setting an example of courage and endur-
ance to their successors for all time : an example
which you may be sure has alwaj's, and will
ahva3-s, be followed by British troops of all
ranks, from leader to fighting-man. Wellington's
veterans never fell away from the traditions
in which they had been raised, and which they
bequeathed. Sir Charles Napier, at sixty,
began his Scinde campaign with a daring opera-
tion which ranks with the boldest in war. His
march upon the desert fortress of Emaun Ghu>,
with a few hundred English soldiers carried on
camels — a lonely journey of eight days — was a
feat, both in its performance and its conse-
-quences, which is not outdone by Wolfe's scaling
of the Heights of Abraham, the great American
General Sherman's march from Atlanta to the
sea, Drury Lowe's and Herbert Stewart's raid
upon Cairo after Tel-el-Kebir, when 1,500 horse-
men galloped into the old capital of the Caliphs
and seized it for the Queen. At that moment
Cairo was held by a garrison of 10,000 of Arabi's
men.

Again, Napier's victory at Meanee was a
triumph over the most tremendous odds, when
2,400 British troops, 500 of whom alone were
white, the rest native sepoys, encountered,
attacked, and defeated 36,000 Beloochees in the
open field. Napier would not stand on the
defensive — that might have seemed to imply
fear of the result, and injuriousl}- affect the spirit
of his native troops — so he resolved to attack,
instead of waiting to be attacked. They met in
mid-shock — for the Beloochees made a counter-
attack ; and for three hours the unequal contest
went on with a foe as brave and undaunted as
ourselves. It was long a hand-to-hand fight,
bayonet against sword and spear ; but at the
critical moment Napier sent all his cavalrv
against the enemy's right, and broke it. Then
♦Shadwell's " Life of Lord Clyde," p. 33.

the 22nd charged home with tremendous force,
and the battle was won. Not the least brilliant
feat in this glorious victory was the self-sacrificing
devotion of a captain of the 22nd — Tew byname
— who gave his life for his duty. Before the
fight, Napier had discovered that some 6,000 of
the enemy occupied a building surrounded by a
high stone wall, through which there was but
one egress — a narrow doorway, which could, he
thought, be completely blocked by a few deter-
mined men. Captain Tew was posted there with
his company, and told he must die, if need be,
but that he must never give way. He died where
he was posted ; but with his handful of men he
closed the opening throughout the fight, and
thus paralysed the action of a large portion of
the enemv.

Sir Hugh Gough — afterwards Lord Gough —
had long to wait for promotion to the higher
ranks, and he was more than sixty when he
commenced the campaigning in China which led
to the cession of Hong-Kong. Soon afterwards
he won the hard-fought battle of Mahrajpoor, in
Gwalior, against that warlike and turbulent race
the Mahrattas, whose subjugation had cost so
much in the earlier days of the century. Gough
won Mahrajpoor by a direct attack, marching
right up to the enemy's position, and trusting
to the British bayonet for success. " Nothing,"
as he himself wrote in his dispatch, " could with-
stand the rush of the British soldiers. They
drove the enemy from their guns, bayoneting
the gunners at their posts.'' Two oflficers —
Stopford and Codrington — were found lying
wounded just under the muzzles of the Mahratta
artillery. The same tactics — for Gough was
essentially a forward fighter — served him well
at Moodkee, the first of the battles in the
Sikh war.

The campaign was forced upon us suddenly.
Gough was called up to support Lord Hardinge,
the Governor-General, who, when making a
progress through the Punjaub, found the Sikhs
on the point of declaring war. The force which
Gough collected numbered only 14,000 men, and
it had to traverse 150 miles to reach the scene of
action. It was a toilsome march, under an Indian
sun ; water was scarce ; the troops reached
Moodkee worn-out with privations and fatigue ;
but when they heard their enemy was in front of
them, they went, without resting, straight into
the fight. The Sikhs — splendid soldiers, trained
by European officers — were more than double
our numbers, with a fine cavalry and many
guns; but the British infantr\-, "trusting to that

GOUGH IN THE SIKH WAR.

never-failing weapon the bayonet," drove the
Sikhs out of their positions.

A second battle — a greater trial of strength,
demanding higher qualities of fortitude and en-
durance — was near at hand. Gough moved
forward at once, and attacked the Sikh en-
trenchments at Ferozeshah, Sir Henry Har-
dinge, who was with him, waiving his
rank of Governor-General, and serving under
Gough, in command of the left wing. The
struggle was terrific : the Sikhs fought with
splendid courage, and
when night fell the
battle was not ended.
It was a drawn game
so far, and some de-
spondent spirits in the
camp suggested retreat
— the rash and in-
glorious course of cut-
ting a road through to
Ferozepore. Gough
would not agree. " I
tell you, my mind is
made up. If we must
perish, our bones must
bleach honourably

where we are.'' Har-
dinge was no less firm.
When an officer told
him that Sir Hugh
Gough feared it would
be a fatal risk to renew
the battle, Sir Henry
scouted the idea.
'' Gough knows,'' he
cried, " that a British

army must not be foiled ; and foiled this army
shall not be." The contest, when it re-com-
menced, was most unequal. Fresh reinforcements
reached the enemy, but our troops met them un-
daunted, and went forward nobly to the attack.
In the end, a turning movement of cavalry on
both flanks, followed by a fresh infantry charge,
decided the day in our favour, and the Sikhs
were routed with tremendous loss.

These victories did not end the v.-ar or com-
plete the conquest of the Punjaub. The Sikhs
fell back upon the Sutlej, and established an
entrenched camp in front of the village of
Sobraon : they did not care to meet us again in
the open field, but they stood a gallant siege at
Sobraon, which had to be stormed like a fortress.
A curious feature in this battle was the great
charge of cavalry made through the breaches, in

SIR CHARLES NAPIER

which the horsemen cut down the defenders at
their guns. Another interesting fight was that
at Aliwal, won by Sir Harry Smith as a
detached operation, in which the i6th Lancers
greatly distinguished themselves. These various
victories broke the courage of the Sikhs, but
only for a time ; and the peace that followed was
of short duration.

It was abruptly ended by a deed of treachery
such as has not been uncommon in our
Eastern Empire : the British resident and an-
other officer were mur-
dered in Mooltan, and
it was necessary to re-
sume active operations.
But the occasion fur-
nished an opportunity
of distinction to a
gallant young officer,
lieutenant Herbert
Edwardes, who, with-
•out waiting for orders,
united his small de-
tachment, posted on
the Indus, to that of
Colonel Courtrand, and
fell upon the Sikhs,
forcing them to retreat
into Mooltan. Then
followed the gathering
of forces anew on both
sides, and fresh battles,
achieving at first but
incomplete and unsatis-
factory results. The
name of Chillianwallah
and the misfortune
ct that day will not be readily forgotten. It
was a day ot carnage, disaster, and disgrace ;
for an English cavalry regiment, weakened by
previous losses and fearing an ambuscade, gave
way to panic and galloped off the field. It
mav, however, be said, in extenuation of this
happily unusual military crime, that an in-
judicious order given by the brigadier originated
the stampede. The consequences in any case
were disastrous, and it followed upon the nearh
complete massacre of a line regiment— H.M.'s
24th, that which suffered afterwards so terribly at
Insandhvana — which, emerging from a swampy
jungle, was all but cut to pieces, because it
paused to spike guns it had captured from the
Sikhs.

A storm of indignation arose in England, and
the public discontent was poured out on the

BATTLES OF TPIE NINETEENTH CENTURY,

Commander-in-chief. Lord Gough was imme-
diately superseded by Sir Charles Napier,- his
previous brilliant services being entirely ignored ;
but before the conqueror of Scinde couid reach
India, Gough had completely vindicated our
arms and his own reputation. Mooltan was
carried by storm, and the final decisive victory
at Goojerat — at first an artillery duel, in which
our guns showed their marvellous superiority —
completed the discomfiture of the Sikhs. From
that time forth the Punjaub was incorporated
in our British Indian Empire. The Queen has
no more loval subjects, no more devoted soldiers
in her ranks, than the descendants of our former
sturd)- foes.

The time was approaching when England
was to be once more
engaged in European
war. Just when the
nations hoped they had
reached an era of uni-
versal peace, the clouds
collected quickly, and
two traditional foes
joined hands to attack
Russia. The expedi-
tionary force which left
these shores for Turkey
in 1854, and which ere
long won new victories,
but at a terrible outlay
of men and material,
was one of the finest,
as regards physique and
fighting power, that
England has collected.
It was well armed, as
the time went, and well
commanded. Lord
Raglan was at its head,
and his lieutenants were
mostly Peninsular vete-
rans: Sir G'.orge Brown,
already mentioned for
his gallantry- at the Coa ;
Sir De Lacy Evans, who
had fought in Spain
and America, and at

Waterloo ; Sir George Cathcart, who had been
on Wellington's staff; Sir Colin Campbell, of
whom more directly; and Sir John Burgoyne, a
famous engineer officer, who had helped to
construct the lines of Torres Vedras, and had
served in the great sieges of Ciudad Rodrigo,
Badajoz, Burgos, and San Sebastian. But the

LORD GOUGH
(After the Painting by Sir Francis Grant, P.R.A.)

army was unprovided with the trains, transport
services, and means of supply which are of little
less importance than valour in the field ; and
for the want of them, braven,- was as nought^
victories were wasted, and men's lives poured
out like water.

The three principal battles fought in the
Crimea by the English were essentially triumphs
for the rank and file. At the Alma it was sheer
hard slogging, headlong rushes against a strong
position, which was carried, in spite of all resist-
ance. The fighting fell mostly to the share ol
the I St and 2nd Light Divisions, the Guards, the
Highlanders, and the Fusilier and Rifle bat-
talions ; and it was done in the famous old
formation — the thin red line. At one time the-
Guards were hard
pressed, and they came
to Colin Campbell, who
commanded the 2nd
Brigade, sajing the
Guards would be de-
stroyed if they did not
fall back. " Better that
every man of He-' Ma-
jesty's Guards should'
be dead on the field
than that they should
turn their backs uporv
the enemy," replied
Campbell, as he hastened"
with his Highlanders
to their support.

At Balaclava, when-
" some one had blun-
dered," and the gallant
Six Hundred went into
the jaws of death, the
English light cavalry
were all but destroyed,
but it won imperish-
able renown. "Magni-
ficent, but not war,'''
was the French gene-
ral's comment on the
mad charge : an attack
by cavalry on guns in
position ; but the Avhole
of these reckless horsemen went forward with
the same spirit that animated their leader, Lord
Cardigan, who, rising in his stirrups, cried',
" Here goes the last of the Brudenells ! " It
was a hopeless enterprise, but it was performed ;
and all the world wondered.
Inkerman, again, was pre-eminently' the soldiers'

THE CRIMEA.

battle — a hard personal hand-to-
hand fight, where the Russians
numbered thousands to our hun-
dreds, and it was no less the almosi;
impudent courage of the British
than the impossibility to believe
that so few could resist so many,
except backed up by strong reserves,
that prevented the Russians from
carrying all before them. The attack
was made at daylight, when the
mists still lay thick on the ground,
and concealed the meagreness of
our forces ; the Russian hosts came
on in dense columns along a narrow
front which prevented their opening
out, and our men in the proverbial " thin line "'
could hit the head of the advance with tremendous
effect. The onslaught fell first on Pennefather,
who had won early fame at Meanee against over-
whelming odds ; now, Avith a bare 3,000 men all
told, he hurried down, and came to immediate
blows against the Russians, nearly 20,000 strong,
with powerful artillery. It was so throughout the
battle. Attack was met by counter-attack ; our
handfuls constantly met the shock of great masses,
checked them, drove them back, and followed,
fighting lustily. The Light Division, under
Codrington — 1,400 men, no more — was as daring
and tenacious. Until half-past seven, for nearly
a couple of hours, these two kept the whole of
the attackers at bay. Fresh troops then began
to come up on both sides ; another Russian
general's corps, that of Dannenberg — 19,000 men
— renewed the assault ; the Guards and 4th
Division came up to stiffen Pennefather. It was
at this period that the gallant general made a
famous reply to General Cathcart, who had asked
where he could give best assistance. " Get in
anywhere," cried Pennefather ; " there's lots of
fighting going on all round.''

The final Russian attack v;as made about 10
a.m., the sharpest and best intentioned of any in
the da}', but by this time the opponents were
more equal in numbers. Bosquet's Frenchmen
had come up to support, and we had gained the
help of the two celebrated i8-pounder guns under
Collingwood Dickson, which 150 artillerymen
themselves dragged from the ist Division camp
to the field. This, with tvv-o batteries of French
Horse Artillery, pushed gallantly forward to the
" bare slopes fronting the enemy," had re-
adjusted the balance of artillery fire ; and at last
the Russians fell back, sullenly, overmastered, but
they- were followed by no final charge. " When

CHARGE OF CAVALRY THROUGH THE BREACHES AT
SOBRAON (/. 7).

hopeless of success," the enemy " seemed to melt
from the lost field ; the English were too few
and too exhausted ; the French too little con-
fident in the advantage gained to convert the
repulse into a rout." The victory at Inkerman
was but the prelude to terrible sufferings during
the long-protracted siege, but these could be borne-
with patience, because Inkerman had proved
that we were more than a match for the Russians
in the open field. Had we not won the battle,,
the whole of the allied armies, taken in reverse,,
would have been swept off the plateau in front
of Sebastopol right into the sea.

The fortress itself proved a ver}- hard nut to-
crack, and although frequently assaulted, was-
never actually taken by force of arms. The
winter troubles, the inclement weather, the
difficulties of supply which starved the troops
and reduced the siege into a mere blockade,,
forbade attack. On the contrary, the besiegecr
displayed such activity under the intrepid Tod-
leben, that the initiative often passed to them,
and by bold sorties they gained ground rather
than lost it. Even our incessant bombardments,

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

causing terrific carnage, did not dismay the
defenders, and fresh reinforcements constantly
arrived. It was not till June that the first real
assault was delivered, and then only through
the indomitable determination of the allied
generals. The French were especially hampered
by tne interference of the Emperor Napoleon,
who, with no military knowledge, claimed to
control and advise from Paris. It was the first
occasion on which the telegraph line began to
be largely used in campaigning, a practice greatly
calculated to paralyse the action of generals in
the field. Napoleon was all in favour of leaving
the siege to linger on, while field armies cut off
the supplies to the fortress ; but
Pelissier, the French general, was
a strong man who held to his
own views, and he persisted in
attacking Sebastopol.

Early in June the French took
.the Mameion, the English " the
Quarries,'' important outworks,
and it seemed as if the end was
near. But a second assault, de-
livered within a week or two
upon the Malakoflfand the Redan,
was repulsed with terrible loss ;
only a detached attack, under the
English General Eyre, upon the
Cemetery succeeded, and for a
time we were actually within the
walls. But we could not stay there.
Two months more elapsed, chequered by the death
of Lord Raglan, who had won the love and
respect of all. and by another fierce effort, made
upon our communications. The battle of the
Tchernaya was fought nearly on the same
ground as Balaclava, and was won by the
French and the newly-arrived Sardinian troops.
Then, finally, on the 8th September, the French
stormed the Malakoff again, and this time took
it. The English had the more difficult task,
because the Redan, which they attacked, was
constantly reinforced by the masses dri\-en out
of the Malakoff. But our assault had not been
planned on a big enough scale ; it was not pro-
perly supported, although the trenches behind
were crammed with reserves, and it failed.
That night the Russians, feeling that in the
Malakoff they had lost the key of their defence,
evacuated the town, but not before the}^ had
blown up tlie forts, and set the whole place on
fire. The sight will neveE be forgotten by those
who sav,' it, as did the writer. The town in
flames, great forts crumbling to pieces as though

<^\

SIR COLIN CAMPBELL (AFTERW.\RDS
LORD CIVUE ;.

by magic, heavy columns of Russians crossing
the bridge under an incessant fire from the allied
batteries.

Peace with Russia had not long been signed
when the British Empire was threatened in a
most vulnerable place. For a time it seemed as
though we might lose India. The revolt of the
native or sepoy army bur.st out so suddenly — it
was marked with such base treachery, disgraced
by such cold-blooded atrocities — that the world
still shudders at the details. The English were
everywhere outnumbered ; our hold on India de-
pended greatly on prestige ; implicit faith had
been pk.ced in these ver}- mutineers. The force
of white troops at hand was very
small ; ver}' soon Upper India
was in the hands of the insur-
gents : only here and there little
groups, generally isolated and sur-
rounded, fought with desperate
courage against overwhelming
odds, almost against hope. No
page in our national annals is
more glorious than that which
enshrines the heroism of those
who then saved India. Not only
were soldiers brave, but civilians,
unused to arms, showed dauntless
pluck — frail women performed,
too. great deeds in defence of
their honour.
Although the whole country was
more or less involved in the struggle, the prin-
cipal interest was centred in the three great cities
which were the scene of the fiercest efforts : at
Delhi, Cawnpore, and Lucknow the conflict was
long-sustained. Delhi, the seat of the new Empire,
was thronged with mutineers from many neigh-
bouring garrisons. It was held by numbers of disci-
plined, well-armed troops, with powerful artillery,
to the use of which the}- had been full}- trained,
and it stood a long siege in which, at first, owing
to the weakness of our forces, the besiegers were
themselves besieged. But the little army was a
band of braves led by heroes. Such men as the
Nicholsons and the Chamberlains roused them
to superhuman efforts ; and when the place was
captured, after a three months' siege, it was
carried by the assault of four weak columns of
barely a thousand each.

Cawnpore was another large station, which fel)
at once into the power of the miscreant. Nana
Sahib, who has earned for himself undying exe-
cration as the most cruel and unprincipled of our
toes. But the handful of Europeans would not

THE INDIAN MUTINY.

easily yield ; many were only women and
children ; the fighting men were few ; yet they
held out in rough entrenchments for nineteen
da3's, standing a siege under the tropical sun
of June, and displaying a calm fortitude beyond
all praise. Gentle ladies gave their stockings to

SIR JAMES OUTRAJI.

make cartridge-cases ; they nursed the wounded,
fed the troops. One brave woman — a soldier's
wife — mounted sentry, sword in hand, over a
number of sepoy prisoners. The roll of heroes
was well filled at Cawnpore. Such soldiers as
Moore (of the 32nd), Jenkins, Mowbrav Thom-
son ; such civilians as Heberden and Moncrieffe,
make us proud of our race. Who shall forget
the cool courage of Delafosse, who stood over a
tumbril of ammunition, the woodwork of which
had been set alight by the enemy's fire — stood
over it in imminent peril, while he tore off the
burning timbers, and stifled the danger with
earth ? And vet the defenders could not escape
their fate. When resistance became hopeless,
they capitulated under promise of a safe conduct
to Allahabad, and a general massacre followed,
from which only two or three of these devoted
martyrs escaped.

The story of Lucknow is very similar ; it is
no less harrowing, but a source of equal pride in
our race. The siege of the Residency, into
which Sir Henry Lawrence retired with all his
force and all their dear ones, was protracted to
the utmost limits of endurance. ■ Lawrence him-
self was struck down by an exploding shell ;
but the legacy he left his comrades was the
watchword '' No surrender ! " • His dying words
were : '' Let every man die at his post, but

never make terms. God help the women and
children ! " Lucknow held out till it was relieved
by Havelock and Outram in September, only to
be again besieged when the relieving force had
got within the lines. It was not until Novem-
ber, when Sir Colin Campbell advanced with all
the reinforcements that could be got together
at Calcutta — bluejackets from the men-of-war,
regiments detained on their way to China, a
small band of volunteer cavalry recruited in the
capital. He had to fight his way in. First,
there was the relief of the Alum Bagh, which
was held, although the enemy were in an en-
trenched position before it ; then the capture of
the Dilkhoosha Palace ; then the Martiniere
Palace, which the enemy occupied with guns in
position ; after that the Secundra Bagh, where
the 92nd and the Sikhs raced up to the breach
neck-and-neck. Other buildings were stormed
— the Mess House, the Aloti Mahal — and from
the latter an entrance was effected into the
Residenc}-, which at last was relieved.

Assuredly there has been no falling off in the
spirit of the British soldier, singly or collectively,
whatever his rank. Our most recent military
annals record episodes as gallant and as credit-
able to the pluck and manhood of our race as
any that have gone before. Ever}' form of
courage has been displayed : reckless daring

SIR HENRY HAVELOCK.

enterprise, calm self-reliant heroism in the most
despairing situations. Who shall forget the
24th at Insandlwana, massacred to a man by
the countless Zulu hosts ? A brave, pitiless, but
chivalrous foe, who could pay the following
tribute to their fearless demeanour in that

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

unequal conflict: '' Ah, those red soldiers ! How
few they were, and how they fought I They
fell like stones, each man in his place." There
is nothing finer, again, in war than the manner
in which another British regiment — the 66th
(Berkshire) — met death to a man at Mai wand,
in Afghanistan. The general reporting it wrote
that "history does not afford a grander instance
of devotion to Queen and country-." The 66th,
although outnumbered a hundred to one, re-
ceived undaunted the furious attacks of the
Ghazis or Mohammedan fanatics vowed to slay
the infidel, and were gradually slaughtered till
only eleven officers and men remained. This
imall band stood back to back, unconquerable,
still facing and keeping the foe at bay, until
they were finally shot down from a distance.

Another famous story is that of Rorke's Drift,
when two young subalterns, Chard and Brom-
head, holding a river ford which was the only
possible line of retreat for Lord Chelmsford's

"'THIS GUN KliLONGS TO MY REGIMENT— 2XD GOOKICHA,
OF WALES's I ' "

force, were threatened_ by overwhelming num-
bers. The Zulus Avere quite 3,00c strong, and
the little English garrison no more than 130, of
whom thirty-five were on the sick list. But
there was no thought of surrender. A line
of trenches was hastily contrived with biscuit-
boxes and flour-bags, behind which our men
fought gallantly the whole night through. At
one time the hospital was a sheet of fire, and the

feeble breastwork had been penetrated in more
than one place. But the garrison never quailed :
their heroic subaltern leaders never despaired,
and they had beaten off their assailants when at
davlight relief arrived.

The only parallel to Rorke's Drift is the
gallant defence of Arrah during the Lidian
Mutin)-, when a handful of English civilians de-
fended a detached two-storeyed house for seven
days again*st an army of sepoy mutineers. The
collector, Mr. Wake, with fifteen other civilians,
fiftv Sikh police and one faithful Mohammedan,
composed the garrison, and the assailants num-
bered 3,000, with two field-pieces. They had
but little food, a motley lot of arms, unlimited
ammunition, and there was not a military man
among them. But thev held out till they were
relieved bv a man as gallant as themselves, Major
\ incent Eyre, who was ascending the Ganges
with a battery of artiller}' when he heard of
the siege. He steamed back at once to Buxar,
collected a small force of in-
fantry, 154 bayonets in all,
marched fifty miles to Arrah,
was met by the enemy, twenty
times his strength, but at once
attacked them, and put them
to flight. The sepoys could not
face us in the open, even in
such disproportionate numbers.
The spirit shown collectively
has, perhaps, been outdone by
individuals. Endless instances
of personal heroism exhibited singly
might be quoted. What British boy
can read without a thrill of the little
Scotch drummer on the march with
Roberts to Cabul, who, weary and
footsore, refused to fall out, saying,
" Nae, nae, I'll nae fall out till I've
washed my hands in the waters of the
Caspian '' ? What of Major White,
of the 92nd Highlanders, the present
PKixcE commander-in-chief in India, who

cried to his men in the battle of
Candahar : " Highlanders ! will you
take those guns " — which Avere galling them
terribly — " if I give you the lead ? " What of
the men who followed him to their very
mouth ? What, especially, of the little Goorkha
warrior who went up with his Scotch friends,
and v/ho took one of the first of the guns, shout-
incr as he thrust his cap into the muzzle in
sign of proprietorship, "This gun belongs to my
regiment — 2nd Goorkha. Prince of Wales's J "^

"xXORTH AND SOUTH.

What of Sergeant Cox, of the 72nd, bringing
in wounded officers to Sherpur, and who, with
only ten men, faced the whole garrison of the
Bala Hissar and
forced his way
through, advanc-
ing firing, till the
enemy broke and
fled ? The dhoolic
bearers (the na-
tives carrying the
officers) would
have set down
their loads and
fled, but Cox
threatened to
shoot them if
they did not do
their duty. Ser-
geant Cox, b}- his
coolness and in-
trepidity, set such
a good example
that his men

seconded him admirably, and all the
wounded were brought ni sate to the
cantonments. Cox had aheady re
ceived the distinguished service meda
for his gallantry in the campaign

We have, of course, no monopol}-
in brilliant feats of arms. Othcx" na-
tions have shown equal prowess,
whether against us or each other.
Bravery, indeed., will never go out of
fashion ; the will and power to show
it, as well as the spirit to appreciate
it, may be met with in every civilised
country. Other nations, moreover,
have bee^ tried more seriously than
ourselves in longer, larger, and more
portentous struggles. France sacrificed much
treasure and many men in assisting the Italians
to throw off the Austrian yoke, and the cam-
paign of 1859 was distinguished by at least two
great battles. Both are, perhaps, better re-
membered by the colours called after them ;
but Magenta was a narrowly lost battle, and
Solferino was gained by the devoted gallantry
of the French troops. Austria was an intruder,
and had no heart in the struggle.

The War of Secession between the Northern
and Southern States of America was a deplorable
civil struggle fought out to the bitter end, but it
was full of pregnant military- lessoiis. full of btrange

vicissitudes in which victory inclined to either
side, of tremendous conflicts over a vast extent
of country. It was a war which embraced almost
a whole continent : the
whole of America was
affected, from the gulf of
Mexico to the Rocky
Mountains. The cam-
paigns and battles were

THE MAORI WAR : ATTACK UPON THE ORAKAO BAH,

commensurate with the territory affected. In
the first instance the two capitals of the oppo-
nents — Washington and Richmond — were chiefly
threatened. Both lay comparatively near their
respective frontiers ; both were in imminent
danger more than once. M'Clellan. after Frede-
ricksburg was in striking distance of Richmond
and Lee, but for Gettysburg, would have swooped
down on Washington.

But as General Grant rose in fame and au-
thority through his splendid successes in the
v>^est, he urged upon the Federal Government
the necessity for more comprehensive operations.
The Confederates, as the Southerners Avere called,

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

could only bt conquered by something like ex-
termination ; they must be attacked with equal
vigour on every line, isolated alike from supplies
and from supports. The North commanded endless
resources, unlimited credit, the means of pur-
chasing recruits without number, any quantity of
munitions of war. The South, shut in within
narrow limits, saw its population drained of fight-
ing men, and was dependent upon blockade run-
ners for powder and shot. Grant was absolutely
right, as the end proved. When Sherman, having
triumphed in the west, made the famous flank
march from Atlanta to the sea, he could swing
round and threaten Richmond from the south.
This was the beginning of the end. Grant now
reaped the benefit of his long-protracted, bitterly-
contested campaign in the " Wilderness,'" north
of Richmond, and the armies closing round
Richmond, the surrender of Lee became inevit-
able, and the Confederacy collapsed.

The war had brought forward many heroes, and
several great commanders : Grant, Lee, " Stone-
wall " Jackson — the name he earned, some saj^^
(for there is another version of the story), because
once, when hardly pressed, he said his men would
stand like a stone wall — Stuart, the Southern
cavalry raider ; Sheridan, a cavalry leader, hardly
inferior to Seidlitz or Murat ; Sherman, Johnson,
Hooker, and many more. Some of them were
recurring types— Grant, silent as Moltke, and as
tenacious and prescient ; Robert Lee, the patriot
soldier, who thought only of his country, a man
of duty like Wellington ; Jackson, who might
have been a Puritan Cromwellian, praying and
fighting by turns, a Charles Gordon in his
absolute trust in Divine help, an Ironsides in his
eagerness to smite the foe. The rank and file
comprised all classes of the communit)- — artisans,
handicraftsmen, scientists — and not the least
remarkable features in the war were its engi-
neering achievements : miles of road made in a
single night, bridges built, forests removed,
extensive entrenchments thrown up as if by
magic when the order was given.

The " Seven Weeks' War," as it has been
styled by its historian, Colonel H. M. Hozier,
was the first of the short, sharp, and decisive
conflicts which are to be the rule in modern
campaigns. It was between the Prussians and
the Austrians, and it was fought for the future
supremacy in the great empire of Germany.
Before it no one knew how marvellously
the Prussians had improved in the science and
practice of war ; how admirably their troops
were trained, how splendidly armed, an,d with

weapons of the newest invention. Still less
was it expected that untried Prussian leaders
would develop such unexpectedly superior general-
ship. From first to last this rapidly successful war
was a surprise. It was carried into the enemy's
country with extreme boldness and celerity ; the
young soldiers of Prussia, under grey-haired but
mostly inexperienced officers, soon established a
marked superiority over Austrian veterans who
had served in many hard-fought campaigns. It
was proved in the earliest engagements that the
possession of the needle-gun, the breech-loading
rifle long carried by a portion of the Prussian
army, but never hitherto used, put the Austrians,
with their muzzle-loaders and their traditional
belief in the bayonet, on very unequal terms.
In the fight Austrian soldiers could not stand
before the Prussians at all. Then the Prussian
generals always out-manoeuvred the Austrian ;
they largely used a system of flanking attack,
of turning the enemy's position at one end ov
side of it, while he was occupied and engaged by
another attack on the front.

These were the tactics that led to the crowning
victory of Sadowa, or Koniggratz, as it is some-
times called. After it the Austrians had no hope
of success, and a retreat began, which soon after
was completed by the ending of the war. At
this battle the Austrians lost 40,000 men, the
Prussians barely 6,000. Such is often the eff'ect
of superior generalship and better morale.

Not the least interesting part of this great
battle was that Englishmen assisted in it as
something more than mere spectators. The war
correspondents of the Times on either side were
both English officers. Captain Hozier rode with
the Crown Prince of Prussia through the day,
sharing his dangers as he noted the varying
fortunes of the fight. On the Austrian side,
Colonel C. B. Brackenbury was close by Bene-
dek's side from first to last; and the Austrian
commander-in-chief, in spite of his misfortunes,
found time to ask for " his Englishman," and to
praise him for his gallantry in facing the risks of
the battle.

War is said to be full of surprises ; and,
again, that success is earned by the general who
makes fewest mistakes. Napoleon III. felt the
bitter truth of both these sayings. The Franco-
German war was a terrible surprise to him, and
both the Emperor and his generals made in-
numerable mistakes. The French began by
expecting a "walk over" — a parade march to
Berlin ; they found they had caught a Tartar,
and that they could not keep the Germans out

AIOLTKE AND MACMAHON.

of France. Napoleon had been assured that
everything was ready for the campaign : not a
" single button was wanting on a single gaiter "'
was the boast of his War Minister, General Le
Boeuf. Yet, when the first blow was struck,
inextricable confusion still reigned within the
French army — neither men nor supplies were
properly organised ; while, from the very first
collision, it was clear that the science was all on
the German side. Man to man, the French
fought as well as their opponents ; but they
were never manoeuvred
wisely nor judiciously
led.

On the other hand,
from the moment war
became ines'itable,

everything worked
with clocklike preci-
sion. It is said that
von Moltke, the fa-
mous chief of the
Prussians, had only to
touch a bell and all
went forward. Any-
how, the Prussians and
their allies were quickly
mobilised, and able to
take the field long be-
fore the French. The
Crown Prince fell up-
on the French general
when still unprepared,
won the first battle,
and held the advantage
from then to the end.
It was a strategical
advantage ; in other

words, the general movements of the armies
put them in superior strength at decisive points,
and this secured success all along the line.

^Marshal MacMahon, beaten at Worth, had to
retire, and become separated both from Bazaine
about Metz and the army of the South. In
between, the " Red Prince," with the ist German
armv, held Bazaine ; and, after a series of fierce
conflicts, the famous battles of X'ionvillc, Grave-
lotte, and Mars La Tour drove him under the
walls of the great fortress. MacMahon, frantic
to regain communication with Bazaine, made a
long detour — a dangerous flank march, as it was
called — and found himself "headed off"" at
Sedan, with the Germans circling round him,
and the neutral territorv of Belgium, which
he was forbidden to enter, ui his rear. The

\_Photo
FREDERICK, CROWN PRINCE

surrender of the French army at Sedan, with the
Emperor Napoleon at its head, was a disaster
from which France never recovered. It was
followed by the surrender of Metz and the whole
of Bazaine's army. Within five weeks France
had been defeated in eight pitched battles ; the
bulk of the French regular troops were prisoners
of war. France was not yet conquered. While
the Germans pressed on to invest Paris — while
their armies moved north, south, and west — the
new Government which had replaced the fallen
Emperor made the
most heroic and un-
heard-of eff'orts to im-
provise new levies. To
place recruits and
moblots — youths half-
trained and inexperi-
enced civilians — in the
front line against regu-
lar troops flushed with
\ictcry, seemed hope-
less enough. It is to
the undying credit of
the French nation that
it was able to maintain
the struggle for so
many months longer,
and to the sturdy
patriotism of such men
as Thiers and Gam-
betta, who never de-
spaired. France fought
it out alone : she had
no allies, or the result
might have been dif-
ferent. There are those
who say that the in-
tervention of a couple of English army corps
in favour or France would have changed the
situation. But it was not our quarrel, and
England could not have thrown her weight into
the scale, except on the most sentimental and
insufficient grounds.

Nearly five-and twent}- years have elapsed
since tliis great struggle occurred, and its legacy
of hate still rankles unappeased. France is
once more as strong as her late foe — stronger,
perhaps — and she is still pining to regain her
provinces and her prestige. It m;iy be that her
rulers and her people are loth to be the first to
draw the sword : the cost of unsuccessful war is
a dear price in these latter days ; and when she
fights again it will be at the most fitting oppor-
tunity, when chance and a better gause than last

Reichard o-^ Lindner, Bcrliti.

of prussia (.afterwards
emperor).

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

time may be on her side. But that she will fight
some day is nearly certain ; and it is this con-
viction which keeps Europe on tenter-hooks, and
converts the whole Continent into a standing
camp.

England, happily, has been spared any life
and death contest, any war on the gigantic scale
of the foregoing. But while her neighbours
have been at each other's throats, she has been
engaged in numerous " little wars " — wars mis-
named little, indeed, for the issues have often
been immense and
the efforts made most
severe. In an empire
so extensive as ours,
causes of conflict
abound, and fighting
must be frequent.
Since the Crimea and
the Indian Mutiny,
we have had at least
half a dozen cam-
paigns. A diplomatic
war with China, a war
for supremacy in New
Zealand, a war for the
deliverance ot captives
in Abyssinia, of retalia-
don in Ashanti, of self-
defence in Zululand,
against a too-powerful
neighbour, ot aggres-
sion followed by
""scuttle" in Afghan-
istan, of interference
in Egypt, followed by
the dire necessities of
occupation.

In many of these the chief work lay in com-
bating the physical and climatic difficulties.
There was not much fighting in the march to
Magdala, but it was a stupendous undertaking
to convey a British arnw across the " mountains
of Rasselas," to the nearly inaccessible stronghold
of King Theodore. When Sir Robert Napier
reached his goal, his troops had only four
•days' rations left, other than meat, and every-
thing had been carried up from the sea on
fnule- or donkey-back. In Ashanti there was
!the same urgency as regards supplies, but as no
four-legged animals will live on the Gold Coast,
the only means of conveyance was on the
heads of native men and women. The organisa-
tion of transport was one of the greatest, although
not the only,, difficulty. There was also the

SIR GARNET (AFTERWARDS VISCOUNT) WOLSELEY.

climate, which was at times, and in most placbs,
pestilential. There was the absence of all means
and appliances, almost of food, and there was
the certainty of encountering a brave, if savage,
enemy in the field. How well the Ashantis
fought was shown by their stubborn stand at
Amoaful, and again in front of Coomassie.

The most trj-ing phases of the campaign were
those anticipatory to the arrival of the white
troops. A small and select band of staff-officers,
under the then new and little tried General Sir

Garnet Wolseley, were
sent out to prepare
the way, to make
roads and bridges,
secure native allies,
carriers, and last, not
least, to hold their
own as best they could
against the enem}-,
who was close at hand
and threatening the
very existence of the
Cape Coast Colony.
Within five months
the Avhole of the ar-
rangements were com-
pleted ; two good black
regiments had been
organised and drilled
under Colonels Evelyn
Wood and Baker
Russell, Rait's artiller}'
was an eflfective body,
and with these and a
few sailors and ma-
rines from the fleet,
the Ashantis had
been driven back to the bush.

A good hard road had been made to the Prah,
a rapid river which the engineers — under the
indefatigable Colonel Home — had bridged, and
when the English regiments arrived they had
simply to go in and win. Two sharp engage-
ments checked their progress, but only for a
time, and Coomassie fell directly our army arrived
before it.

Afghanistan is a country that will be always
memorable in British military annals for the
vicissitudes that have marked our operations.
The earliest war in i83q was a rapid and brilliant
success ; within a short year, through the
treachery of our Afghan foes, thousands of our
countr}-men, their wives and children, were
slaughtered in the mountain passes, and the

.\ "

^ *

sq a;
■_, «
< =?

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

country had to be re-conquered only to be again
abandoned. The Afghans were ahvays trouble-
some neighbours, and again in 1878 the insolence
of the Ameer led to a new invasion. It was
called a triumphal progress ; but there was
some hard fighting — some brilliant feats of arms.
The capture of the fort of Ali Musjid by Sir
Sam Browne's column, the crowning of the
Peiwar Kotal, and the opening of the Shutur-
gardan Pass by General Roberts were successful
operations that were followed by the flight of
the Ameer, and paved the way to the treaty
of Gandamak, by which we placed a new Ameer
on the throne and stationed a British resident
at his court.

The second invasion of Afghanistan, in the
autumn of 1879, was to revenge the base murder
of this resident, Sir Louis Cavagnari, in Cabul, and
it resulted in important operations. Sir Frederick
Roberts, who advanced through the Shuturgardan
Pass, direct upon Cabul, reached the capital after
fighting the successful battle of Charasia, and was
occupied in meting out punishment and strength-
ening his hold until the winter set in. But with
the early snows there came very serious troubles.
Nearly the whole of the Afghan tribes had
been aroused to a jehad^ or holy war, and the
Ghazis gathered round the flag of a chief named
Mohammed Jan to the number of 40,000. It was
said that 100,000 might be expected to take up
arms. Roberts' whole force, English and native,
Avas barely 5,000, but the former were veteran
troops, and the latter made up of Sikhs and
Goorkhas, the bravest of our Indian levies. The
force now arrayed against us was so threatening
that he withdrew entirely within our lines, and
there, practically besieged, held the enemy at
bay. It was a humiliating change for an invad-
ing army, but it was the only safe course to
pursue. At last, Mohammed Jan was rash
enough to attack Sherpur, and was repulsed with
tremendous loss. We had not been strong
enough to go out and meet him in the field,
but he Avas much too Aveak to capture our
entrenchments.

Our restored supremacy Avas not again affected
until the cniefs at Ghazni shoAved signs of tur-
bulence, and a force Avas detached from Cabul to
join hands Avitb. one coming from Candahar to
punish the offenders. The battle of Ahmed
Khel, fought and Avon by Sir Donald SteAvart,
Avas a brilliant victor}' OA-er a most determined
foe. Never in the annals of Afghan Avarfare
had Ghazis shoAvn such indomitable courage.
They came right in among our men, fighting

hand to hand, pistol and SAVord against breech-
loader and bayonet, selling their lives so dearly
that they did great mischief before they Avere
repulsed. A thousand dead Ghazis Avere counted
on the field, and some of them Avere Avomen.

But this did not end the fighting, nor did
success ahvays smile upon our arms. Another
Afghan army, advancing from Herat under
Ayoub Khan, Avas met on the Helmund by
General BurroAA's from Candahar, and a deplor-
able defeat folloAved. The causes of the already
mentioned disaster at Maiwand AA'ere bad general-
ship and imprudence, but the sting of the defeat
Avas somewhat taken out of it by the devotion
displayed. MaiAvand imperilled Candahar, Avhich
Avas speedily invested by the triumphant Ayoub,.
and the garrison Avas in some danger. Tavo-
armies Avere at once set in motion to relie\-e the
place. General Phayre moved up from Ouetta ;
Sir Frederick Roberts Avas sent from Cabul, to
perform the great forced march Avhich has be-
come famous in military history. Cutting him-
self adrift from his base — an act Avhich is deemed
most rash and generallv unjustifiable in militarv
science — he started off Avith 10,000 men, hampered
by 8,000 baggage animals to carry food and in-
dispensable supplies, Avith 8,000 camp folloAvers^
to march 300 miles across an enemy's country.
His troops Avere the flower of the Indian army,
their temper Avas the finest ; no priA-ations
checked, no terrors daunted them ; they bore
Avithout flinching the Avide changes of tempera-
ture — betAveen 45 degrees at daybreak and 105
degrees at noon; they Avere never sure offood„
and they kneAv that certain death aAvaited then:*
if they lagged behind.

The march from Cabul to Candahar was ac-
compli-shed in tAventy days, making an average
of fifteen miles daily march during that time :
a splendid feat in pluck and unyielding endur-
ance ; and they reached Candahar travel-stained
but uuAvearied, ready to join issue Avith the
enemy directly they met him. Ayoub had
raised the siege at the approach of Roberts, but
he awaited him in a strong position ; and then
foUoAved the decisive A'ictory of Candahar, fought
under the Avails of the city, in Avhich the defeat
at MaiAvand Avas fully avenged.

The Zulu Avar Avill be remembered Avith mixed
feelings : sorroAV for grave and regrettable dis-
asters, pride at great achievements, Avhich in a
measure atoned for and avenged them. We
entered into the struggle a little too lightly,
perhaps, although enough must have been
knoAvn of our opponents to have exacted respect

THE ZULU WAR.

for their prowess. The Zulus were a military
nation, every able-bodied man was a soldier,
trained in the skilful use of his weapons, light
of foot, ardent for glory, highly disciplined and
drilled. The Zulu generals were admirable
tacticians, and their now well-known plan of
attack with centre held back and two great
horns thrust out on each flank was quite scien-
tific. Cetewayo, the king, a despot who could
deal with his braves as he pleased, could send
some 50,000 of them into the field, all ready to
sacrifice their lives for him.

Lord Chelmsford, when the invasion of Zulu-
land was decided upon, did not command more
than 16,000 men, of whom q,ooo were native
levies. His plan of operations covered a wide
front : his forces marched in five columns, widely
apart, from the sea-mouth of the Tugela River
to Luneberg and the borders of the Transvaal.
The centre, which he led himself, was the first
to suffer, and barely escaped annihilation while
the general-in-chief was out on a reconnaissance
with half his whole force. The enemy he was
looking for, some 20,000 Zulus, swooped down
upon the other half in an open undefended
camp and destroyed it. The massacre of Insandl-
wana, when a battalion of the 24th Regiment
and a number of native troops were cut to pieces,
would have been avoided with proper precau-
tions. What even light entrenchments could
do to stave oflF even overwhelming attack was
seen the same day at Rorke's Drift.

Retreat after Insandlwana was imperative.
At one time it seemed as though the Zulus
would pursue, and invade the colony of Natal.
Fortunately, our arms were upheld elsewhere.
The Tugela, or sea-coast column, under Colonel
Pearson, had advanced some way towards LHundi,
and had established itself at Ekowe when the
news arrived of Lord Chelmsford's misfortune.
After a short debate, it was wisely and bravely
resolved to stand firm. Ekowe was roughlv
fortified and bravely held against thousands of
Zulus for more than three months, until it was
at last relieved by Lord Chelmsford in person,
who on his way up had fought and won the
battle of Ghingilovo.

Another column, under Sir Evelyn Wood,
the nearest to the two overwhelmed at Insandl-
wana, had also been hardly pressed. Wood
was active, and his attitude firm. At the action
called that of the Zlobane Mountain he was
for a time surrounded, but in the subsequent
fight, when he was attacked in "laager" at
Kambula, his force gallantly repulsed quite ten

times their number. Two companies of the
8oth, with the fifth column, were, however, un-
fortunate, and one of the detachments sent out
to escort waggons coming in with supplies was
surprised and destroyed upon the Intombi River.
The Zulus had come upon them unawares in the
mist — 4,000 men to 1 50 — and none of the British
escaped alive.

Presently reinforcements began to arrive, and
before May the army numbered 22,000 men, of
whom 17,000 were Europeans. A new general
— the then Sir Garnet Wolseley — was also sent
out to supersede Lord Chelmsford ; but the
latter, utilising his greater means, was able to

GENERAL GRANT.

recover his prestige before the arrival of his suc-
cessor. Fresh columns were organised; Generals
Newdigate and Wood converged upon Ulundi
from the north side ; General Crealock was to
advance from the Tugela (but never got very
far) ; General Marshall, with a cavalry division,
joined in with Wood.

The battle of Ulundi, when the king's kraal
was captured and burned, ended the war. The
Zulus by this time had lost much of their spirit ;
they were " beginning to be frightened," as one
of their own chiefs said ; and no doubt the^'
now realised that the strength was on our side.
Cetewayo was for some time a fugitive after
Ulundi, and his pursuit and eventual capture by
Colonel Marter and Lord GiflFord were not the
least exciting episodes of the Zulu war.

This was not to be our last campaign in South
Africa. The war with the Boers, which fol-
lowed, is not a brilliant chapter in our military
history. In the Transvaal, as in Zululand^ we

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

began by under valuing our enemy, and time
was not allowed to recover our reputation. The
fate of the general whose name will alwa\-s be
associated with the Boer war was its saddest
episode. Misfortune pur-
sued Sir George Colley :

"THEY CAME RIGHT IN AMONG OUR MEN " (/>. iS).

he was one of the " unlucky.'' Opinions differ
concerning his latest failure, but there are
many who hold that the story of Majuba — of
the craggy and, seemingly, inaccessible hill
climbed by Colley and his devoted band, only to
find death and defeat on the top — ought, with
better fortune, to have ranked with Wolfe's
scaling of the Heights of Abraham, or Charles
Napier's desert march on Emaum Ghur.

Eg}-pt has been our latest battle-ground. The
campaign against Arabi and his insurgent troops
may not seem a very glorious achievement, but
the Egyptians were well disciplined ; they had
admirable weapons, and they fought behind
strong entrenchments, armed with most powerful
artillery.

The cavalry combat at Kassassin, the storm-
ing of the lines of Tel-el-Kebir, were very suc-
cessful feats of arms. Fighting of a much
more serious character was in store for us
before we were long in Eg}-pt. The Great
Nile Expedition, for the relief of the ill-fated
hero Gordon, was akin to those to Magdala and
Coomassie, but it differed rather in scope and

greatly in results. To ascend a mighty river,
running down with a steady stream five miles an
hour and barred at intervals by cataracts and
rapids, was a greater task than scaling mountains
or penetrating the bush. The enterprise was
further hampered by the opposition of a most
determined and courageous foe.
" Fuzzy Wuzzy," as our soldiers
christened the shock-headed Sou-
danese warrior, was an opponent
worthy of our steel. His contempt
for British squares and British
breechloaders has been sung in
strong language by Kipling, the
soldier's poet, and was shown by
the recklessness with which he
threw himself on the one and faced
the other. Of all the brilliant
battles fought by British soldiers,
they may be most proud of
Abu-Klea, Tamai, and El-
Teb.

It has been often said in
disparagement of our small
wars, that they have been
mostly waged against savage
foes. But this is surely to
our soldiers' credit, for they
have, in this way, encoun^
tered some of the most war-
like races in the world, many
of impetuous, of reckless fanatical bravery, who
accepted none of the recognised canons and
conventions of civilised warfare. To kill or be
killed was the only watchword of the Afghan
Ghazi, the stalwart Zulu, or the irrepressible
Soudanese. There was no quarter, no making
prisoners, e.xcept for subsequent butcher}-. In
these desperate campaigns, our men fought with
their lives in their hands. It was trul}- war to
the knife, and called for the highest courage.

Nothing shows this better than the many
deeds of heroism recorded in these wars, deeds
that earned the most coveted of English military
distinctions — the Victoria Cross. A chaplain, Mr.
Adams, in the first fight outside Sherpur, bravelv
e.xtricated a trooper who was under his dead
horse in a inclee^ and who would certainl}' have
been slain. In the Mutiny, Sir Charles Eraser,
now a gallant general, won both the cross and
the Humane Society's medal at one and the
same time for saving, under a heavy fire, a man
who was drowning. In the closing affair of
the Zulu war, before Ulundi, Lord William
Beresford gallantly picked up a trooper, whose

LORD WILLIAM BERESFORD AT ULUNDI.

horse had been shot under him, and carried
him off behind him on his own horse. The
Zulus were near at hand in great numbers, and
the fate of th,e fallen man would have been
sealed. Commandant D'Arcy, of the frontier
Light Horse, exhibited the same self-sacrificing
courage on this occasion, but his own horse was
wounded and fell under the double weight,
whereupon D'Arcy mounted his man upon
another trooper's horse, and saw them safely off
before he rode away.

Well, we have had our glance at the wars
of the century — a cursory glance enough, and
attracted chiefly by the red coat of the British
soldier ; let us now turn over the leaves of
our book, and pass from battle to battle. We
shall ''go as we please " — passing from Plevna to
Austerlitz, from Bull Run to Gravelotte, just as

the spirit moves us, and unfettered by sequence
either of date or place. Now we shall follow
the fortunes of the Great Napoleon, now of
Napoleon " the Little " ; now of Wellington,
now of Roberts and Wolseley ; now of Moltke,
Skobeleff, MacMahon, Sherman, Garibaldi. At
one moment we shall be listening to the thunder
of a broadside from the Victory, at the next
to the bombardment of Alexandria. We shall
pass from the shots and shells of civilised warfare
to the assegais and spears of the Zulu, the
hatchets of the Maori, the knives of the Sou-
danese. We shall see all the glories of war,
deeds of daring and heroism, acts of noble self-
sacrifice and devotion ; but we shall see also
that reverse side of the picture which should
indeed be engraved still deeper on our minds :
we shall see that its glories are outweighed by
its horrors, its sufferings, its pitifulness.

THE pleasant little frontier town of Saar-
briick was a ver\- interesting place at
the beginning of the Franco-German
war. Within the distance of a mile
from the low heights covering Saarbriick to-
wards the west, ran the frontier line divid-
ing France from Germany- The place was
being held " on the bounce," for its garrison
consisted merely of one battalion of the Hohen-
zollern infantry regiment and two squadrons of
the 7th Rhineland Uhlans. All along this
frontier line down in the broad smooth valley
between the Saarbriick heights and the loftier
^nnd more abrupt Spicheren heights inside of the
French border, the hostile piquets and videttes
•confronted each other.

As one stood in front of the little " Belle-
\'ue " public-house on the Reppertsberg, one
saw in the plain below among the trees a
Prussian piquet of Uhlans and infantry ; and
on the little knolls further in advance the
videttes circling singly, their lance-pennons flut-
tering in the wind. Several hundred yards
further away, by the side of the Forbach
road, was the frontier custom-house which the
French now used as a piquet house. Outside
of it the red-breeched linesmen were to be
seen sitting or lounging about in considerable
numbers. In their front was the chain of their
videttes. All along the frontier line, to the right
and left of this point, there ran this arrangement
of outposts confronting each other. On the
Spicheren upland a French force was gradually
gathering until, by the end of July, the whole
of Frossard's army corps was massed on the
Spicheren, within gunshot distance of the low
heights covering Saarbriick.

In those pleasant early days, while as yet there
were no graves on the Spicheren Berg and no
shattered men lying in the Saarbriick hospitals
or littering the platform of the Saarbriick rail-
v\"ay station on the blood-stained stretchers, the

opposing piquets and videttes formed quite the
diversion of the Saarbriick people. After the
day's work was over, the labouring folk used
regularly to stroll up to the "Bellevue" to
watch, as they drank their beer, the dropping
fire, fain to see a German marksman proving his
skill by hitting a Frenchman. Both sides were
very cautious and few casualties occurred. As
yet the Saarbriick hospital contained but two
wounded Germans, both linesmen of the Hohen-
zollern regiment. The French were reputed
to be in force in Forbach as well as on the
Spicheren Berg — as many, it was said, as 15,000
men. Saarbriick, however, was in no trepida-
tion and kept a good face with its little garrison
of some 1,200 men all told.

It was on one of the earliest of those early
days that the midday table d'hote in the Rhein-
ischer Hof was broken up abruptly b}- the report
that French cannon were being moved forward
to the edge of the Spicheren Berg. Immediately
the drummers paraded the town, beating to arms.
A company of the Hohenzollerns occupied each
of the two bridges and a third marched up the
hill and took up a position among the trees
skirting the exercise-field. A detachment of the
Uhlans rode up on to the heights, while the rest
stood to their horses in the Central Platz. F'-om
the " Bellevue " the French cannon were easily
discernible through the field-glass, as they were
being drawn forward into position by infantrymen.

Almost immediately came apuff of white smoke
from the mouth of one of the guns, and a shell
struck on the road close by the little beer-house,
bursting as it fell. There was a stampede on the
part of the civilians from their beer-mugs in the
" Bellevue," and the}- hurried into cover behind
the crest of the height. They were onl}- just in
time. Another shell, ricocheting off the road,
struck the front of the beer-house, went througl:
the wall as if it had been paper, and burst inside,
blowing out the windows and part of the roof

THE BAPTISM OF FIRE.

Four more- shots were fired, and then the French
withdrew their cannon. Their practice, no
■doubt experimental, was very good — of the six
shells fired, three struck the " Bellevue." Two
rooms of it had been blown into one, the bar
knocked into little pieces, the furniture wrecked,
and a great gap in the floor made by a shell on
its way to the cellar to cause a smash-royal
among the bottles.

The outposts blazed away at each other until
dusk. One of the last shots killed a soldier
on patrol — he was the first man killed in the
war. The poor fellow was hit full on the
forehead, and he must have died instantane-
ously. His comrades carried in the corpse on
a stretcher improvised of their rifles. The
drops of blood pit-patted on the road as they
carried him past, the moonbeams falling on the
pale dead face. Quite a lad he was, with the
down hardly grown on his face — likely enough
a mother might have been thinking of and
praying for her lad, little knowing that he was
lying stark and cold, waiting for a grave.

The slow days passed in a strange bewildering
calm, unbroken save by the trivial skirmishes
occurring in the course of the constant reconnais-
sances and patrolling parties.

Frossard lay passive on the Spicheren save for
the " potato-reconnaissances " his hungry soldiers
occasionally made, sending out a screen of skir-
mishers to the front while the working parties
dug potatoes with great industry.

Brave old Major von Pestel of the Lancers, who
commanded the handful of men holding Saar-
briick, had received an order from Moltke to
evacuate a place which was regarded as unten-
able ; but von Pestel pleaded successfully to be left
where he was, on the undertaking that he would
not compromise his little command, but would
fall back as soon as serious danger threatened.

Meanwhile he was never out of the saddle.
Every afternoon he would come cantering over
the Bellevue height with his cheery greeting
and his shout, " Come along, English sir ! I
go to draw de shoots of de enemy ! " The
French marksmen expended a considerable
quantity of ammunition on the worthy major ;
but the range was long and they never suc-
ceeded in hitting him, although certainly he
gave them plentv of chances.

But in spite of Major von Pestel's cordiality,
it was rather a tedious time. Men asked each
other if it were possible that the French on
tne Spicheren were not aware of the Aveak-
nesb of the land on the other side of the

frontier. The Prussian infantrymen and Uhlans,
it was true, were manipulated dexterously and
assiduously to make a battalion seem a brigade
and a couple of squadrons a powerful cavalry
force ; yet it was felt that the place was being
held only by dint of sheer impudence — for there
were no supports as yet nigh at hand — and that
the bubble must burst summarily if Frossard
should abandon his unaccountable inactivity.
Why the soldiers in red breeches lay so long
basking lazily in the sun on the Spicheren slopes
the men of Saarbriick could not comprehend ;
but the day must surely be near now, they said
one to the other, when the red-breeches would
gird up their loins and roll their columns on
over the Reppertsberg, the exercise-ground, and
the Winterberg, and across the Saar into the
Kollerthaler Wald or the Pfalz. In their path —
surely th?;}' must have known it — there stood but
an open town, a couple of bridges partially bar-
ricaded with barrels, a single battalion of infantry
and two reasonably strong squadrons of Uhlans.
The 1st of August, while the French on the
Spicheren Berg were still supine, brought to
near Saarbriick what all hoped was the earnest at
last of a host, not alone of resistance, but also ot
invasion. On the afternoon of that day, the ist
and 3rd battalions of the HohenzoUern regiment,
with a battery of artillery, reached the vicinity
and bivouacked on the edge of the forest at
Raschpfuhl, some two miles north-west of the

town. General Gneisenau also arrived and
assumed the command.

On the morning of the 2nd, when the Hohen-
zollerns were basking in their sunshiny bivouac,
the French Emperor, with his son, was travelling
by train from Metz to Forbach. The German
videttes down the valley heard the gusts of cheer-
incr v;ith which Frossard's soldiers welcomed

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

the Head of the State and his heir. Ignorant
of the cause, some attributed the cheering to
the announcement of a French success some-
where ; others ascribed it to an extra issue of
wine. How were the honest Uhlans to discern
that the imperial parent had come to the frontier
to make a military promenade wherewithal to
throw dust in the eyes of his Parisians, and that
" Lulu," as they impertinently styled the heir of
the dynasty, accompanied his father that he
might receive his " baptism of fire " ?

The night had passed in quiet along the fron-
tier, and in the morning it seemed as if the 2nd
of August was to be as monotonous as had been
the ^st. General Gneisenau and old von Pestel,
now a lieutenant-colonel, had made a recon-
naisbjaice from the " Bellevue '' and had come
back to a leisurely breakfast. The soldiers in
the barrackyards and in the several posts on
the environs of the town, slept and smoked
and gossiped, their arms stacked as usual ; the
officers sat under the trees drinking their Rhine
wine, and the whole place seemed oppressed
by the drowsiness of a fervently hot day.

SAARURUCK

But the torpor was soon to give place to alert
activity. At ten a.m. Saarbriick awoke at the
announcement sent in from the outposts that
the enemy was at last advancing. The two

companies in front of Saarbriick moved at once
into the line of defence. The company from St.
Johann hurried by at the double to occupy the
" Red House." Major von Horn hastened to
strengthen the post on the Wintt-rberg, which was
most imminently threatened. Captain Griinder
occupied the Lowenberg, and moved with Ley-
decker's company and the rest of his own out
to St. Arnual, where his rifle fire and the fire ot
two guns sent to him from Raschpfuhi gave a
warm reception to the enemy debouching from
the Stiftswald. As some English spectators
hurried up to the "Bellevue" height, there
rattled past them at a sharp trot a couple of
guns which the general had ordered to be put
in position on the Exercise Platz. The battery
chief waved his hand cheerily as he galloped to
the front.

From the " Bellevue " one looked upon an
imposing spectacle. Three roads, crossing the
plain from the wooded heights on the French
side of the frontier, converge on Saarbriick. One
of these is the great post-road from Forbach.
Another, starting from the village of Spicheren,.
winds tortuously down the right flank
of the precipitous " Rothe Berg " —
the " Red Crag " — crosses the hollow
and enters Saarbriick between the
Reppertsberg and the Nussberg. The
third, further to the east, is a mere
green track of considerable breadth,,
which falls abruptly down into the
valley by the pop-
lar-clad slope from)
the plateau towards
St. Arnual.

Down all these
three roads were
flowing from the
upland dense and
glittering streams
of French troops,
the stream on the
great road flowing
swiftest and fastest.
The sunrays flash-
ed on the bright
bayonets, and
threw up from the
green or grey back-
ground the red
and blue of the uniforms. The troops came on
in the true careless, irregular French style, with
scarcely a pretence of formation, but with a speed
that was remarkable. The moment that the head

THE BAPTISM OF FIRE.

of a column reached the valley, it broke into spray.
As file after file reached a certain point, it be-
came dissipated ; the nimble linesmen extended
further and further to right and left, till by the

verge of the plateau, the gunners unlimbering
and standing ready by the venomous pieces that
presently gave fire from their wicked black,
mouths. Higher up on the crest were visible

lulu's d£but.

time that the heads ot all three columns were
in the valley, an unbroken but loose chain of
skirmishers was drawn across the plain several
hundred yards in advance.

Then began the steady deployments of com-
pany after company, battalion after battalion,
regiment after regiment ; and almost before one
had realised the situation, a long dense line had
been ruled along the valley behind the more
ragged line of the skirmishers. Squadrons of
cavalry streamed down, and forming line ac a
gallop, rapidly overtook the infantry. Passing
through the intervals, they reformed and pushed
on to occupy and cover the flanks of the
advance.

While all this was going on in the valley,
the streams from behind the wood and the
hill seemed to flow from a source that never
would run dry. It was hardly a break that
was caused in it by the two batteries that
came down and wheeled off the road on to the

other batteries, apparently of larger guns. The
peculiarity of the movements described was their
perfect quietness and uninterruption. The
French tirailleurs had already begun to breast
the gentle slope leading up to the positions held
by the Germans, when the chassepots began to
give tongue ; and then the silence gave place to
a steady rattle of musketry fire, through the
smoke of which the main advance moved steadily
and swiftly forward.

Bataille's division formed the first line ; of it
Bastoul's brigade on the right of the main road
moved against the Reppertsberg, the Winter-
berg, and St. Arnual ; Pouget's brigade on the
left of the road moved towards the exercise-
ground. In the second line were the brigades of
Michelet and Valaze ; the remainder of Frossard's
corps, the strength of which reached 35,000
men, followed in reserve. An army corps was
marching against a couple of battalions.

Despite the disproportion, the Prussian defence

1l6

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

rvas obstinate. It was only after a brisk combat
ihat the weak detachment were driven from St.
Arnual, the Winterberg, and the Reppertsberg.
On the latter height a Prussian half-company met
the French skirmishers with the bayonet, and
then held them for a time at bay by a fire from
behind the hedges.

The final withdrawal was conducted slowly,
in excellent order. Baron von Rosen held his
company to the last on the exercise-ground.
His steadfast soldiers, lying down between the
trees, waited until Pouget's skirmishers were
within 300 yards, and then poured in a fire so
heavy that the French assailants were compelled
to halt and lie down for a time.

It was just as Rosen had received a peremptory
order to retire that the few spectators who waited
to accompany that movement witnessed the
descent from the Spicheren height of a great
cortege of mounted officers. The glittering pro-
cession rode forward at a slow trot, crossed the
intervening level, and then ascended the slope of
the Folster height, around which was massed
the regiments of Valaze's brigade.

The cortege halted on the low crest of the
Folster height ; and through the telescope one
saw the group open out and leave isolated two
personages on horseback, one of whom was
clearly discerned to be Napoleon III. The boyish
figure on the smaller horse, whose gestures were
so animated, was presumed to be the young
Prince Imperial ; and the cheers which rose above
the din of the musketry-fire were taken to indi-
cate the congratulations of the soldiers at the
Prince's receiving his " baptism of fire " — which,
indeed, it has been supposed, was the object of
the otherwise pointless demonstration. Not on
the Folster Hohe, but nearer to Saarbriick, under
the trees of the exercise -ground, is now a stone
with a somewhat brusque inscription, which
being translated reads : — '' Lulu's Debut, 2nd
August, 1870. Erected by H. H. Baumann,
Veteran of 1814-1815."

It was just as Rosen was withdrawing his
company from the immediate front of Pouget's
advance that a curious and characteristic incident
occurred. Among the few civilians who remained
on the exercise-ground to the bitter end was a
gallant British officer, Wigram Battye of the
famous " Guides," who died fighting in Afghan-
i-stan in the campaign of 1878. A soldier was shot
down close to him, whereupon Battye, who had
been rebelling against the retirement, snatched
up the dead man's needle-gun and pouch-belt,
ran out into the open, dropped on one knee.

and opened fire on Pouget's brigade. Pouget's
brigade replied with alacrity, and presently
Battye was bowled over with a chassepot
bullet in the ribs. A German professor and
a brother Briton ran out and brought him in,
conveyed him later to a village in the rear, plas-
tered successive layers of brown paper over the
damaged ribs, and started him off in a waggon to
the Kreuznach hospital.

The French did not press upon the orderly
Prussian retirement, and, indeed, both of the
bridges across the Saar remained in the posses-
sion of the Prussians. The firing had almost
died out when, soon after noon, the French began
to bombard the lower bridge and the railway
station from three batteries which they had
brought up on to the heights overhanging Saar-
briick. One of these was a mitrailleuse, the
storm of bullets from which swept the bridge so
that nothing could live on it, and an unfortunate
burgher, who did not believe in the mitrailleuse,
had to alter his views on this subject when the
lower part of his person was riddled by the
bullets it poured forth. The Prussian artillerj-
about Malstatt tried with four guns to make head
against the French batteries, but had to give up
the attempt and retire. The final detachment of
Prussians remained under the shelter of Hagen's
Hotel while the French were shelling the rail-
way station, but ultimately ran the gauntlet and
found refuge in the Kollerthal. The casualties
of the day were trivial. The Prussians had eight
men killed, four officers and seventy-one men
wounded. The French loss amounted to six
officers and eighty men.

During their short stay in and about Saar-
briick the French behaved with great modera-
tion. General Frossard, on the evening of the
attack, sent for the Mayor of Saarbriick, and told
him that his orders were very strict against
marauding, and that if any cases occurred the
townspeople were to take the numbers on the
caps of the evil-doers, when the fellows would be
severely punished. But there was little occasion
for complaint : the French soldiers paid their
way honestly. They did, to be sure, drink a
brewery dry, but the brewer refrained from
reporting them. A corporal attempted to kiss
pretty Fraulein Sophie — the dame dii comptoir of
the Rhinescher Hof ; but a captain caught him
in the act, ran him off the premises, and himself
kissed the winsome lass. On the morning of the
6th the Prussian troops were back again in
Saarbriick : the French had gone back to the
Spicheren position on the previous night.

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" There's many a victory, surely, decisive and complete.
As meant a sight less fightin' than a hardly fought defeat;
And if people do their duty, every man in his degree.
Why defeat may be more glorious than a victory needs to be."

THESE lines from a modern ballad put
very clearly a truth that is too often
forgotten. Victories are remembered
and commemorated by medals and
names inscribed in letters of gold on our regi-
mental colours ; but people do not talk about
defeats. Yet when brave men fail against
desperate odds, the story of their gallant efforts
to carry their flag to victory is quite as well
worth the telling and the remembering as if
the chance of war had given them the coveted
prize of success. '

So it is that among the battles of the centur}-
that should not be forgotten we count the one
solitary defeat that English sailors or soldiers
ever suffered at the hands of the Chinese —
Admiral Hope's failure to force the entrance of
the Pei-ho River at the Taku Forts on June 25th,
1859: a failure amply avenged by the gallant
storming of the same forts in the following vear.
Taku is a town near the mouth of the Pei-ho
{i.e. the "North River"), which, flowing between
low, mudd}' banks, runs into the Gulf of Pe-
chi-li. Thirty-four miles higher up the river is
Tien-tsin, built at the junction of the Pei-ho
with the Grand Canal. It is the port of Pekin,
and a busy and prosperous place. Pekin, the
capital, is some eighty miles still further inland.
In the year 1858 the French and English had
forced their way to Tien-tsin, passing the forts
near Taku at the river mouth with but little
difficulty, for the works were badl}- armed and
neld by an irresolute garrison which made but a
poor defence.

When Tien-tsin was occupied, the Chinese
asked for peace, and a treaty was signed there
containing, among other stipulations, an agree-
ment that the envovs of England and France

were to be received at Pekin within a year, and
that the treaty was to be solemnly ratified there
Now the Chinese, as soon as the allies withdrew
from Tien-tsin, began to regret having consented
to allow the foreign ambassadors to enter their
capital, and endeavoured to have it arranged
that the treaty should be ratified elsewhere.
But England and France insisted on the original
agreement being carried out, and when the en-
voys of the two countries arrived off the mouth
of the Pei-ho in June, 1859, and announced
their intention of proceeding up the river to
Pekin, the}' were escorted by an English fleet
under the command of Rear-Admiral Hope.

It was found that not only had the forts at
the river mouth, which had so easily been
silenced the year before, been put into a state of
repair, but that the river was blocked against
anything larger than rowing-boats by a series
of strong barriers. The admiral was informed
that these had been placed on the river to keep
out pirate? and it was promised that they should
be removed ; but so far from keeping this
promise, the local mandarins set to work to
strengthen the defences of the river. On June
2 1st, the admiral sent the Chinese commander a
letter warning him that if the obstacles were
not cleared out of the channel of the Pei-ho by
the evening of the 24th, he would remove them
by force.

The three days' grace thus given to the
Chinese he employed in preparations to make
good his warning message. He had several
powerful ships in his squadron, but none of
these could take a direct part in the coming
fight, for the entrance to the Pei-ho is obstructed
by a w ide stretch of shallows, the depth of water
on the bar being only two feet at low water, and

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

hardly more than eleven at high tide ; and this
only in a narrow channel scoured out by the
river. Thus, for the actual attack on the forts, he
had to rely on the gunboats of his fleet, a number
of small wooden steamers of light draft built

during the Crimean
war for service in
the shallow waters
of the Baltic and
Black Seas. The
gunboats with
which Admiral
Hope crossed the
bar and anchored
below the forts on
the 23rd were the
following : — ■

SCENE OF THE OPERATIONS
OF 1859 AND i860.

Plover^ Bantcrcr^
Forester^ Haughty,
James, Kestrel, Lee,
Opossum, Starling,
each of four guns ; Nimrod and Cormorant, each
of six guns.

Each had a crew of forty or fifty officers and
men, so that the eleven little steamers brought
fort3'-eight guns and 500 men into action. The
heavier ships outside the bar were to send in
500 or 600 more men, marines and blue-jackets,
in steam launches, boats and junks ; this force
being intended to be used as a landing party
when the fire of the forts had been silenced.
No one expected that this would prove a difficult
business.

It was true that there was a big fort on the
south side, with mud ramparts nearly half a
mile long, and heavy towers behind them, and
another large fort on the north bank, placed so
as to sweep the bend of the river ; but on all
previous occasions the Chinese gunners had
made very bad practice with their guns, and had
soon been driven from them by the fire of
English ships ; and, besides, it was not supposed
that there were any large number of guns in
position on the forts, for very few embrasures
had been cut in the mud walls, so far as anyone
could see.

On the evening of the 24th, no answer having
been received from the shore, it was announced
that the attack w^ould be made next day, and
after dark the admiral sent in one of his officers,
Captain Willes (now Admiral Sir George Willes,
G.C.B.), to examine the obstacles in the river
and see what he could do to remove them.
Willes was accompanied by three armed boats.

provided with explosives. Rowing up quietly
under cover of the darkness the boats came
first to a row of iron stakes, each topped with a
sharp spike and supported on a tripod base, so
that they were just in the proper position to
pierce the side or bottom of a ship coming up
the river at high water.

This first barrier was just opposite the lower
end of the South Fort. Passing cautiously
between two of the spikes, the daring- explorers
rowed up the river for a quarter of a mile, when
they came to a second barrier, formed by a
heavy cable of cocoa fibre and two chain cables
stretched across the channel, twelve feet apart,
and supported at every thirty feet by a floating
boom securely anchored up and down stream.
Two of the boats were left to fix a mine under
the middle of this floating barrier, while Willes
pushed on further into the darkness with the
third. Just above the bend of the river he
came to a third barrier, formed of two huge rafts,
moored so as to leave only a narrow zigzag
channel in mid-stream, this passage being still
further secured with iron stakes.

Willes got out on one of the rafts and, crawl-
ing on hands and knees, examined it carefully,
and decided that mere ramming with a gun-
boat's prow would not be enough to displace it.
As he crouched on the raft he could see the
Chinese sentries on the river bank, but was,
happily, imseen by them. Returning to his
boat, he dropped down to the second barrier.
The mine was ready, and having lighted its fuse
the boats pulled down the stream to the flotilla.

DEFENCES OF THE PEI-HO, 1859.

The explosion revealed their presence to the
Chinese, and a couple of harmless cannon shots
were fired at them from the South Fort. The
plucky little expedition had been a complete
success ; but before morning the Chinese had

THE STORMING OF THE TAKU FORTS.

repaired the gap blown by the mine in the
floating boom.

Early on Saturday, June :25 th, the gunboat
flotilla cleared for action. Admiral Hope's
orders were that nine of the ships should anchor
close to the first barrier and
bring their guns to bear on
the forts, while the two
others broke through the
barriers and cleared the way
for a further advance. High
water was at 11.30 a.m., and
it was expected that all would
be in position by that time ;
but the difficulty of working
so many ships in a narrow
channel, not more than 200
yards wide, with a strong
current and with mud banks
covered by shallow water on
each side, was so great that
it was not till after one that
the ships had anchored, and
even then two of them, the
Banterer and the Starling,
were stuck fast on the mud
in positions from which it
was not easy to get their
guns to bear.

All this time the forts had
not shown the least sign of
life. Their embrasures were
closed ; a few black flags flew
on the upper works, but not
a soul was to be seen on the
mud ramparts. It was a
bright summer da}-, blazing
hot, with a cloudless sky of
deep blue overhead, and all
round the little flotilla the
dark waters of the river came
swirling down on the ebb,
so that already patches of
yellow mud were showing here and there under
the rush-covered banks.

The Plover, with all steam up and the admiral
on board, was close to the first barrier of iron
Gpikes, and the Opossum, now commanded by
Captain Willes, lay close by her, the special task
of this ship being to deal with this first obstacle.
At a signal from the admiral the Opossum
hitched a cable round one of the iron stakes,
and, passing it over one of her winches, reversed
her engines and tried thus to tear the stake out
€>f the river. But it was so well fixed that it

was not until half-past two, after half-an-hour of
anxious work, that the obstacle gave way.

The admiral in the Plover now steamed through
the gap thus formed, followed bv the Opossum.
As the two little ships approached the floating

WHAT HAVE VOU BEEN DOING, YOU RASCALS?'" (/. 30).

barrier beyond, a flash from the long rampart on
the left, the boom of a heavy gun, the whistle of
a round shot in the air, warned them that the
Chinese meant to resist.

Along the walls of the forts on either side
banners were hoisted on every flag pole, em-
brasures were opened, guns run out, and from
some six hundred yards of the rampart on the
left, and from the North Fort out in front, the
Chinese artillery, rapidly served and well laid,
poured a storm of shot upon the leading ships.

Promptly came the English answer. Admiral

-^o

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

Hope's signal, " Engage the enemy," flew from
the masthead of the Plover ; her four guns opened,
three of them on the hig fort away to the left,
not more than two hundred yards off, the other
replying to the North P^ort, while the guns of
the rest of the flotilla took up the loud chorus.

It was a fight at close quarters, and the Eng-
lish guns were worked by men who knew their
business ; but the Chinese fire, instead of slack-
ening, seemed to grow heavier every minute.
If a gun was silenced, if a shell burst in an
embrasure and swept away all within reach of
its explosion, another gun was promptly placed
in battery, another band of daring gunners took
the places of the slain. They fired so steadily
and aimed so truly, that to this day many hold
that they had trained European artillerymen
helping them. The iron storm to which they
were exposed began to tell upon the two leading
ships. The Plover had thirty-one out of her crew
of forty killed or wounded in the first half-hour.
Her commander, Lieutenant Rason, was literally
cut in two by a round shot ; the admiral was
wounded in the thigh, but refused to leave the
deck ; and Captain McKenna, who was attached
to his staff, was killed at his side. Nine un-
wounded men only were left on board, but they,
with the help of some of their wounded com-
rades, kept two of the guns in action, though
they fought on a deck slippery with blood, and
with the bulwarks, boats, and spars of their ship
cut to pieces by the Chinese shot.

It was about this time that a boat flving the
Stars and Stripes came pulling in from an
American cruiser that lav outside the bar.
Commodore Tatnall of the United States navy
was on board, and he had come to the Plover,
regardless of the Chinese fire, to offer some help
to the English admiral. As a midshipman he had
fought against the British in the war of 1S12,
but, as the old sailor said to Admiral Hope,
" blood is thicker than water " ; and though, as
a neutral, he could not join in the attack, he
offered to send in his steam launch and help to
convey the wounded out of danger, an offer that
was gratefully accepted. When he bade good
day to the admiral and went back to his boat,
he had to wait a little for his men. They came
aft, looking hot and with the black marks of
powder on their hands and faces. " What have
you been doing, you rascals ? " said Tatnall.
" Don't 3'ou know we're neutrals ? '' " Beg
pardon, sir," said the spokesman of the party,
" but they were a bit short-handed with the
bow-gun, and we thought it no harm to give

them a hand while we were waiting."' The
incident is remembered in the navv to this day
as a good deed done for the Old Country by
Brother Jonathan.

At three o'clock Admiral Hope ordered the
Plover, now almost disabled, to drop down the
river to a safer station, and transferred his flag
to the Opossum, the Lee and the Haughty
steaming up to the place left vacant in the front
of the fight. A few minutes more, and a round
shot crashed through the Opossimt's rigging
close to the admiral, knocking him down and
breaking three of his ribs ; but though suffering
severely the brave commander made light of his
injuries, a bandage was adjusted round his chest,
and seated on the deck of the gunboat he still
kept the command, and later on even insisted
on being lifted into his barge in order to visit
and encourage the crews of the Haughty and
the Lee.

" Opossum, ahoy ! '' hailed an officer from the
Haughty. "Your stern is on fire.''

" Can't help it,'' shouted back her commander.
" Can't spare men to put it out. Have only
just enough to keep our guns going." But, in
her turn, the Opossum had to give up the fight
for awhile and drop down to the first barrier.
The Lee and the Haughty now bore the brunt
of the fight, and suffered severely. Everything
that could be smashed on their decks was
knocked to pieces, and the Lee was hit badly
in several places at and below the water-line.
Woods, her boatswain, informed her commander,
Lieutenant Jones, that unless the shot-holes
could be plugged she would sink, as her pumps
and donkey engine could not get the water out
as fast as it came in. '' Well, then, we must
sink," said the lieutenant ; '' you can't get at
the worst of the holes from inside, and I'm not
going to order a man to go over the side with
the tide running down like this, and our pro-
peller going." But Woods replied by promptly
volunteering to go over the side and see what
he could do. His commander warned him
that the screw must be kept going, or the ship
would drift out of her place — so, besides the
chance of drowning, he would risk being killed
by the propeller blades ; but Woods, remarking
that the chance of being killed was much of a
muchness anywhere just then, went over the
side, with a line round his waist and a suppl}' of
shot-plugs and rags in his hands, and, diving
again and again, and more than once sweeping
down with the tide under the stern and rising
just clear of the wash of the screw, he successfully

THE STORMING OF THE TAKU FORTS.

plugged several shot-holes. But for all that the
ship continued to fill, and before long had to
give up ner place in the fight and run aground
to prevent her sinking.

The Cormorant replaced the Lee, the admiral,
by his own request, being seated in a chair on
her deck. He had already once fainted, and
the doctors now persuaded him to allow them to
send him to the hospital ship on the bar, and
Captain Shadwell, the next senior officer, took
the command of the attack. At half-past five,
when the battle had lasted three hours, the
Kestrel sank at her anchors. Of the eleven
gunboats, six were disabled or put out of action.
But the fire of the Chinese batteries was slacken-
ing, and at 6.30, after a hurried council of war
on board the Cormorant^ it was resolved to
bring in the marines and sailors who had been
waiting in boats and junks inside the bar to act
as a landing part}', and try to carry the South
Fort by a bold rush.

It was after seven, and very little da\'light
was left for the daring attempt, when the boats
were towed in by the Opossum and the Toey
' Wan^ 3. little Chinese steamer. Captain Shad-
well took command of the landing party, which
was made up of bluejackets under Captain
Vansittart, and Commanders Heath and
Commerell, R.N. Sixty French sailors, under
Commander Tricault, of the French frigate
Diihalya, the marines imder Colonel Lemon,
and a party of sappers with scaling-ladders,
under Major Forbes, R.E.

As the boats pulled in to the shore, the fire from
the North Fort had ceased, and only an occasional
shot was fired from the long rampart of the
South Fort. The landing place was five hundred
yards in front of the right bastion of this fort.
The tide had fallen so far that it was not possible
to get any nearer, and the column had to make
its way across these five hundred yards of mud
covered with weeds and cut up with ditches and
pools, the ground being so soft in places that
the men sank to their waists in it. And as the
first boat's crew landed on this mud bank,
suddenly, to the surprise of everyone, the whole
front of the South Fort burst into flame.

The silence of its guns was only a clever ruse^
to lure the British to a closer attack. Now every
gun opened fire again, while the Chinese, regard-
less of the covering fire from the gunboats,
crowded on to the crest of the rampart, and
opened fire with small arms upon the landing
party. As they struggled onwards to the river
bank round shot and grape, balls from swivels

and muskets, rockets, and even arrows, fell
among them in showers. Captain Shadwell was
one of the first to be wounded ; Vansittart fell,
with one leg shattered by a ball ; dead and
wounded men lay on all sides, and the wounded
had to be carried back to the boats to save them
from being smothered in the mud.

Three broad ditches lay between the landing
place and the fort. Not 150 men reached the
second of these, and only fifty the third, which lay
just below the rampart. Several of this gallant
band were officers — Tricault, the Frenchman,
Commerell and Heath, Parke and Hawkey of
the Marines, and Major Forbes of the Engi-
neers. Their cartridges were nearly all wet and
useless, and they had only one scaling-ladder.
It was reared against the rampart, and ten men
were climbing up it, when a volley from above
killed three and wounded five of them, and
then the ladder was thrown down and broken.
There was no help for it but to retire.

It was now dark, but the Chinese burnt flaring
blue lights and sent up rockets and fireballs, and
by their light fired on their retiring enemies.
Sixty-eight men were killed and nearly .300
wounded, in the advance and retreat of the
landing party. Several of the boats had been
sunk, and many of the men had to wait up to
their waists, and even their necks, in water, on
the river's brink, till they could be taken off".

It was I a.m. before Commanders Heath
and Commerell, the two last of the party, re-
embarked. Then the gunboats slipped down to
the bar, a party being sent in next da}- to blow
up or burn those of the grounded ships that
could not be got off".

So ended the disastrous battle on the Peiho.
Next year an allied force of British and French
troops, under General Sir Hope Grant and
General de Montauban, taught the Chinese
that, notwithstanding their victor}- over Admiral
Hope's little gunboats, thev were in no position
to cope with the great Powers of the West.
While the allied fleets watched the entrance of
the river, 11,000 British and Indian troops and
between 6,000 and 7,000 Frenchmen were landed
at Peh-tang, some eight miles north of Taku.
A wide expanse of marshes separated Peh-tang
from the forts which were to be the first object
of the allied operations ; but these obstacles were
turned by a march inland, in which the allies
defeated the Chinese field-army at Sin-ho, on
August 1 2th, and coming down the north bank
of the Pei-ho, seized the walled town of Tang-ku,
three miles above the forts, on the 14th.

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

These forts were four in number. There were,
first, the North and South Forts, which Admiral
Hope had attacked the year before, and a httle
higher up the river there were two others, known
as the small North Fort and the small South Fort.
The)' stood on opposite banks of the river, and
were both alike — square structures enclosed by
embattled walls of sun-dried mud, a few heavier
guns being placed on a high platform in the
centre, and the whole being surrounded with a
double ditch, full of water, too deep to ford.
Between the inner ditch and the rampart were
broad belts of sharpened bamboo spikes, about
fifteen feet wide. The swampy nature of the
country rendered the approach to thej forts
difficult for artiller}-.

At first there was a difference of opinion
between the two generals as to how the forts
were to be attacked. It was agreed that as they
were built to protect the river mouth, and their
strongest fronts were toward the sea, they should
be assailed from the land side ; but General de
Montauban wanted to cross the river, and take
the great South Fort first of all. Sir Hope
Grant, however, insisted that a much better
plan would be to begin with the small North
Fort, and predicted confidently that if it were
taken all the other forts would be quickly sur-
rendered, as each of them in turn could bring its
fire to bear upon those still in the hands of the
Chinese. Happily, this plan was adopted, though
the French general was so dissatisfied with it
that he only sent a few hundred men to help in
the attack of the fort, and came to look on him-
self, without even wearing his sword, as if he
wished to disclaim all part in the business.

The swamps so narrowed the available ground
in front of the small North Fort that the attack-
ing force was limited to 2,500 English and some
400 French. On the evening of the 20th of
August, forty-four guns and three 8-inch mortars
had been placed in battery before the fort.

At five a.m. on the 21st they began the bom-
bardment, which was to prepare the way for the
storming party. The English fire soon began to
silence the Chinese guns, and about an hour
after the bombardment began, a shell from the
mortar battery penetrated into one of the maga-
zines of the fort. It blew up with a deafening
explosion, and so dense was the cloud of smoke
that settled down upon the scene of the disaster,
so utterl}' silent was every Chinese gun in the
work, that at first it seemed as if the fort had
ceased to exist ; but as the smoke cleared the
Chinese bravely- reopened fire.

Down at the mouth of the river. Admiral
Hope's ships were once more engaging the two
outer forts ; but this was done merely to keep
their garrisons well occupied, and to prevent
them sending help to the smaller fort. Here,
too, fortune helped the British, and one of
Hope's shells blew up a magazine in the South
Fort, doing a fearful amount of damage to its
defenders.

Soon after six o'clock the storming column
was ordered to advance against the small North
Fort, the English force being mainly composed
of the 44th and 67th regiments. In front of the
column a party of marines carried a pontoon-
bridge for crossing the ditches ; but as they
approached the walls the}' were met with such a
heavy fire of musketr}- that the attempt to bring
up the pontoons was abandoned. Fifteen of the
men carrying them fell under a single volley.

The French had adopted a simpler plan.
They had bamboo ladders, which were carried for
them by Chinese coolies. Heedless of the fire of
their own countrymen, the coolies laid the
ladders across the ditches, and, standing up to
their necks in water, supported them while the
Frenchmen scrambled across. '' These poor
coolies behaved gallantly," wrote Sir Hope Grant
in his journal, " and though some of them were
shot down, they never flinched in the least." The
fact is, that a Chinaman does not seem to know
what the fear of death is ; and while these men
were exposing their lives for a few pence, their
countrymen on the ramparts were just as reck-
lessly standing up on the ver}- crest of the wall
in order to get a better shot at the stormers.

The English crossed the ditches, partly by
swimming and struggling through the muddy
water, partly by the French ladders, partly over
a drawbridge which Major Anson of the Staff
very gallantly brought into use by crossing the
ditch almost alone, and cutting through with
his sword the ropes that held it up.

The stormers were now crowded together
between the inner ditch and the rampart. The
Chinese could no longer fire on them with
their muskets, but they dropped cannon shot,
big stones, explosive grenades, jars of lime, and
stifling stink-pots on to their heads. The
scaling ladders were replaced against the ram-
part, but the Chinese caught them and pulled
them into the fort, or threw them down,
spearing and shooting all who movmted them.

Men and officers tried to scramble in where
the bombardment had broken down the em-
brasures for the guns. One brave Frenchman

"ROGERS GOT IN, HELPED UP BY LIEUTENANT LENON " (A 34).

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

reached the top of the wall, fired his rifle at
the Chinese, took another which was handed
up to him and fired it, and then fell speared
through the face.

Another, pickaxe in hand tried to break down
the top of the w-all. He was shot dead, but as
he fell Lieutenant Bursleni, of the 67th, seized
his pick and went on with the work.

He and his comrade — Lieutenant Rogers, of
the same regiment (now Major-General Rogers,
V.C.) — climbed into an embrasure, only to be
thrown out ; but Rogers got in through another,
helped up by Lieutenant Lenon, who made a
stepping-place for him by driving the point of
his sword well into the mud w'all, and holding
up the hilt. Rogers helped up Lenon and the
others near at hand, and at the same time
Fauchard, a drummer of the French storming
party, got in close by.

Behind him came the standard-bearer of his
regiment (the 102nd of the Line), and as the
Chinese gave way there was a race between
the Frenchman and young Lieutenant Chaplin
(now Major-General Chaplin, V.C), who carried
the colours of the 67th, to see who would first
get a standard fixed on the top of the fort.
Chaplin, though he was wounded in three places,
won this gallant race, and planted the British
flag on the high central battery of the fort.

" The poor Chinese now had a sad time of
it,'' writes Sir Hope Grant. " They had fought
desperately, and with great bravery, few of
them apparently having attempted to escape.
Indeed, they could hardly have effected their
retreat by the other side of the fort. The wall
was very high, and the ground below bristled
with innumerable sharp bamboo stakes. Then
intervened a broad deep ditch, another row of
stakes, and finally another ditch. The only
regular exit — the gate — was barred by our-
selves. Numbers were killed, and I saw three
poor wretches impaled upon the stakes, and
yet a considerable number succeeded in getting
off. The fort presented a terrible appearance
of devastation, and was filled with the dead
and dying. The explosion of the magazine
had ruined a large portion of the interior.
Many of the guns were dismounted, and the
parapets battered to pieces."

The Chinese lost 400 men out of a garrison
of 500. The English loss was 21 killed and
184 wounded. The loss would have been
heavier if the Chinese had had better car-
tridges. Thus, for instance. Sir Robert Napier
(afterwards Lord Napier of Magdala), who led
the advance of the storming column, was hit
in five places by bullets, but none of them
had force enough to do more than inflict a
bruise.

The capture of the remaining forts was an
easy matter. The smaller South Fort, only 400
yards from the North Fort, and commanded
by its guns, was at once abandoned by the
Chinese, and white flags were hoisted on the
two larger forts ; but on the great North Fort
being summoned to surrender the garrison sent
back a refusal. The guns of the captured fort
were turned on it ; other guns were brought
up from the English batteries, and the attack
was about to be begun by a bombardment,
when General Collin eau, of the French army,
noticing that there was no one on the rampart
nearest him, marched forward rapidly with 600
men, sent a lot of them in through a big
embrasure, opened a gate, and took the fort
without firing a shot. About 2,000 prisoners
were taken here, and, to their great delight,
they were simply disarmed and told to go
home. They evidently expected to be mas-
sacred. In the fort were some of the guns
taken from the ships lost in the fight of June
25th, 1859.

In the afternoon the fort on the south bank
was summoned to surrender, and, after some
parleyings, Hang-Foo, the oflRcer in command,
agreed to hand it over next day. Early on
the 22nd Sir Robert Napier took possession
of the southern forts, in which he found no
less than 600 guns, large and small.

The same day Admiral Hope's gunboats
steamed up the river, and cleared away the
barriers below wdiich the fierce fight of the year
before had raged so long, and thus the defeat
on the Pei-ho was avenged and the way to
Tien-tsin and Pekin was open.

A few weeks later, the armies of England and
France marched in triumph into the imperial
city.

'-r-- -Q III

THE ■ GOMi NG., GIF,, GARI EALDI

THE night of ihe 26th of May, i860,
came down on the city of Palermo,
on the plains around it and on the
hills which close ir in beyond, amid
anxious uncertaint}' everywhere. Everyone was
asking, " Where is Garibaldi ? "

The city itself was held in a state of siege b\'
its king, Francis II. of Naples. The sympathies
of the great mass of the inhabitants were known
to be with the Thousand men of Garibaldi and
the Sicilian insurgents who had joined him in
his march from the western coast to the hills
above Palermo.

No one was allowed to leave the city, or to
walk through the streets by day in company
with others, or by night without a lighted torch
or lantern.

Soldiers were picketed at the corners of the
unlighted streets ; companies of soldiers guarded
each of the city gates which had not been
walled up ; and two lines of military outposts
surrounded the whole city without.

On the plain to the west and north of the city
20,000 soldiers of the king were in camp ; 4,000
more had for some days been pushing back the
insurgents in the hills. Their general imagined
it was Garibaldi who was retreating before them.
No military man could understand how a thou-
sand foot-soldiers, aided only by a few thousand
ill-armed and untrained recruits, could give the
slip to the pursuing columns of regular troops,
and surprise the entrance to a city guarded at
every point b}- battalions of trained men and
commanded by the artillery of the forts and the
warships in the bay.

Even now the descent of the Thousand into
Palermo does not become plain until we go over
carefully the condition of the city on that fateful
night, the situation of the various bodies of
troops that were guarding it, and the movements
down the mountain side of Garibaldi and his men.

I. — IN PALERMO.

The Bourbons had now ruled over Naples,
with the whole southern part of Italy and the
island of Sicily, for 125 years.

Ferdinand II., who was dead but a single year,
had been peculiarly unfortunate through the
whole of his long reign. During its first years,
after 1830, the secret societies of carboiiart con-
spiring against him multiplied everywhere in
Sicily. The cholera year of 1837 reduced the
pride of Palermo ; but in 1848, when France
again gave the signal of revolution, the city
rebelled and held out for a year and four
months. For four weeks King Ferdinand had
the city bombarded from his fort in the har-
bour. This did not help to make the citizens
love him the more when he finally conquered,
and his name was handed down as " King
Bomba."

In 1850, his young and inexperienced son,
Francis, found things in the worst possible
condition.

In the north, Italians had united under the
King of Sardinia against the Austrians and the
petty princes who had so long divided up their
countr}-. With the help of France, the war was
soon over. The Austrians were driven out of
Lombardy ; the Duchies of Parma, Modena,
and Tuscany expelled their reigning houses ;
and a good part of the States of the Church was
taken from the Pope.

All these, with Sardinia, now made up the
one kingdom of Italy, with Victor Emanuel as
constitutional monarch.

It was a long step forward toward the realisa-
tion of what had hitherto been but a dream — a
united Italy. And Garibaldi had been the one
hero of its making.

In Sicily a secret committee had been formed,
under the name of the Buono publico (common-
weal), to collect subscriptions among the nobles

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

ana property-holders for the purchase of arms
and other munitions of war. It was in constant
correspondence with the revolutionary com-
mittee existing at Genoa, of which Garibaldi
was the soul. King Victor Emanuel M-as bound
not to give open aid to any revolt against his
cousin, the King of Naples, with whom he was
supposed to be at peace. But it was known
that his Government would pvit no hindrance
in the wfty- Everyone knew also that no
revolution would break out in Southern Italy
except in the name of Victor Emanuel and
Garibaldi.

The counsellors of Francis II. had but one
remedy for this evil state of things — the remedy
of King Bomba and all the Bourbons before him.
The city of Palermo was strongly garrisoned by
troops from the mainland — Neapolitans or Swiss
and Austrian mercenaries. Then fuller powers
than ever were given to Maniscalco, the director
of police, and his spies were placed everywhere.
At Santa Flavia, eleven miles from Palermo by
the sea, an armed insurrection suddenly broke
out. It was crushed at once ; but it was made
the pretext for throwing several notable citizens
into prison. Next Maniscalco was grievously

N^v::i,

"THE PICCIOTTI PICKED OFF THEIR MEN" (p. 38)

wounded at the door of the cathedral, and, in
spite of all the efforts of the police, the would-be
assassin escaped with the help of the people. A

reign of terror was now begun, especially against
the nobles and the rich. In every house searches
were made by Maniscalco's sbtrrt\ or detectives,
for guns and swords and bayonets. It was felt
that, among the 200,000 inhabitants of Palermo,
onh' the soldiers, the host of Government em-
ployes, and the countless members of the secret
police were loyal to the king.

At last the Committee of Sicilian Liberties, as
it was henceforth called, decided that the time
had come to summon the citizens to revolt.
Rizzo, a master mechanic of means, organised
the movement. The rendezvous was given for
the night between the 3rd and 4th of April, at
the Franciscan convent of La Gancia, in the heart
of the city. Rizzo's house was next door, and
the arms which had been gathered were secreted
in an unused well of his courtyard. A communi-
cation had been broken through the wall of the
convent church. The friars were in the secret
and in full S3-mpath3* with the conspirators.
There was but one exception. He carried the
news of what was going on to Maniscalco.

It was eight o'clock in the evening when the
betrayal was made. General Salzano, who was
in command at Palermo, was notified at once,
and the convent was soon surrounded
by troops. Rizzo and twenty-seven
of his companions were already inside
waiting for the coming of the others.
Day broke, and no one had arrived.
Looking out through the shutters, the
little band saw the soldiers under
arms, and understood that they had
been betra^-ed. They resolved to
sell their lives dearly, and Rizzo
opened fire from the windows.

The troops brought their cannon
to bear on the great door of the con-
vent. Two shots were enough to
batter it down, and the soldiers
charged with their bayonets. They
were met by the father superior, and
ran him through on the spot. The
insurgents held them back for a time,
firing from the shelter of the friars'
cells along the narrow corridors.
Another friar was killed, and four
more were wounded. Then Rizzo
with his band made a last effort to
escape in a determined sally through
the courtyard, by the great door
which the cannon had burst open. The troops
were beaten back, but Rizzo fell with his
leg broken by a bullet above the knee. The

PALERMO: THE COMING OF GARIBALDI.

soldiers discharged their guns at him where he
lay, inflicting lingering but mortal wounds. A
dozen of his companions were taken prisoners
with him ; the others made good their escape.

The citizens, without arms and without a
leader, kept to the shelter of their houses. The
soldiers shot at anyone showing himself at a

out the Neapolitan garrison of four soldiers, eight
mounted gendarmes, and eight of Maniscalc's
sbirri. On the nth of the month the picciotti
swept down on a body of troops and forced them
back to the bridge over the Oreto, almost within
gimshot of the city. Soon all the villages along
the coast and in the surrounding country were in

PALERMO HARBOUR.
(From a Drawing by J. W. McWhirter A.R.A.)

window. All who were connected with the
conspiracy fled from the town into the fastnesses
of the hills. The insurrection was again over
in Palermo.

The picciotti — young men from fifteen to
twenty-five years of age — had long been ready
to join in the uprising. Iii the large town of
Carini, ten miles to the west of Palermo, the im-
patience was so great that they anticipated the
signal to be given at La Gancia. On the 3rd of
April the tri-coloured flag of United Italy was
unfurled, and barricades were thrown up across
the mountain roads. Misilmeri, a few miles to
the east of the city, ne.xt took up the cry. With
the two priests at their head, the insurgents drove

full insurrection. The city began suffering from
this blockade on the side of the land. All its
provisions had to be brought in the king's vessels
from Naples.

At Naples the news of the revolt led to the
taking of extreme measures. The vessels of tl^
royal marine, along with merchant ships appro-
priated by the Government for the occasion,
were despatched to Palermo. All were filled
with soldiers and munitions of war. In a few
days there were 13,000 of the king's troops in
and around the city, to face the insurrection.

In spite of the vigilance of the police, a news-
paper from northern Italy had been smuggled
into Palermo, making known to the inhabitants

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

that the committee at Genoa was organising an
expedition to (•f)nie to the aid of the Sicihan
patriots. On the roth of April a secret messenger,
RosoHno Pilo, who had been under proscription
in his native bind for ten years, succeeded in
landing safely at Messina. He made his wav
from village to village b}- night. In the morn-
ing the sign of his presence was found written
on the walls —
*' Vi'eite Garibaldi f Tlva Vittoric) Emaniieic ! "

Soon, in Palermo itself, the very children cried
after the shirrt as they passed— " Garibaldi is
coming ! "

Word was passed around that, on a certain
day, all whose .sympathies were with the revolu-
tion should walk in the fashionable promenade
of the Via Maqueda — the broad, straight street
that divides the city in two halfway up from the
sea. Even the greatest ladies came on foot;
there was no room for the splendid equipages
for which Palermo has always been noted. Nc
one was armed. All kept an ominous silence.

Maniscalco was at his wits' end. He sent a
band of soldiers and sbirri along the promenade
to cry from time to time, " Viva Francesco
Secoiidof^ There was no response from the
crowd. Then the sbirri surrounded a group of
the citizens and ordered them to repeat the cry,
^''Viva Francesco Secondo ! ''' After a moment
of deep silence one of the group, tossing his hat
in the air, shouted, " Viva Vittor-io Emamicle ! "
The soldiers bayoneted him on the spot, and
then discharged their guns into the crowd.
Two men were killed, and there were thirt}-
women and children among the wounded. The
mounted gendarmes charged on their horses,
and swept the streets clear. But the ne.\t
morning Maniscalco could read in huge red
letters on every dead wall of the city, " Garibaldi
vicnc ! " — *' Garibaldi is coming ! "

II. WITH THE king's ARMY.

The regular troops were now kept constantly
on the alert, and daily and nightly drawn by
new alarms from the city toward the mountains,
it was useless for them to give chase to the
picciotti in their retreat along the winding
goat-paths of the hills. In return, they brought
their artillery against houses sheltering the
helpless women and children of the insurgent
villages.

Ic was on the Qth of May that the demonstra-
tion of the Via Maqueda took place, followed by
the bloody poHce outrage on the people and the
tlireatening prophecy written by night upon the

walls. On the 13th word passed through the
city that the prophecy was fulfilled.

" Garibaldi has landed at Marsala 1 "

It was on the nth of May that Garibaldi and
his expedition of a thousand men succeeded in
entering the island. Two English ships stood
between him and the royal cruisers, which gave
chase, until men and arms were all safely on
shore. The two Genoese merchant vessels that
had brought the expedition were abandoned tc
capture, and the march began across the island.
Nothing was left to the adventurous Thousand —
old revolutionists and j-oung university students
from northern Italy, Hungarian officers of 1848,
and French and Polish sympathisers with all
that invoked the name of liberty — but to take
Palermo or die.

The next day they were at Salemi, where, on
the 14th, Garibaldi proclaimed himself Dictator
of the island in the name of King Victor
Emanuel. The guerilla bands and th^ picciotti
began coming in from every quarter.

On the 15th the Thousand came face to face
with the royal troops, which had taken strong
positions along the hills overlooking the road at
Calatafimi, fifty miles from Palermo. The only
pitched battle of the campaign took place here.
The: picciotti, with all their goodv\-ill, showed that
they would be of little use in open warfare.
They could not endure the fire of regular
soldiers, and still less execute the charges neces-
sary for capturing the positions of the enemy.
But the Thousand of Garibaldi were a host in
themselves. The Genoese Carabineers were
accustomed to his methods of fighting. Even
the university students had been trained and
hardened to practise his maxim, " Lose no time
with artillery, but use your bayonets !

General Landi and his thousands of regular
soldiers were driven back, and the next day
they beat a disorderly retreat as far as Palermo.
The picciotti, from the shelter of every rock and
clump of bushes, picked off their men by the
way. The soldiers, in turn, sacked and pillaged
the villages of Partanico and Borghetto. The
Neapolitan officers complained bitterly that their
mercenaries preferred pillage to fighting. Gari-
baldi, ever seeking to draw all Italians to him-
self, praised the bravery of the Neapolitans while
congratulating his own army on its victory. It
had cost him dear. There were eighteen of the
Thousand among the killed, and 128 were
v.'ounded.

After a day of rest. Garibaldi marched for-
ward, and on the i8th he was already on the

PALERMO: THE COMING OF GARIBALDI.

mountains in sight of Palermo. There his men
bivouacked in the rain. On the 20th he ad-
vanced his outposts to within a mile of Monreale,
whence the high road leads directly down to
Palermo, not five miles away. He now decided
not to try to force an entrance into the city from
the side of Monreale. He could not hope to
make his way across the plain and past the
headquarters of the royal arm}-, even by night,
v,-ithout sacrificing half his men. He chose
instead a movement that, perhaps, no other
military man of the age would have attempted.
Garibaldi himself said ever after that it could
have been executed only in Sicily, under the
circumstances of the time. To its success it was
essential that the enemy, lying below in sight
of his own camp fires, should have no knowledge
of what was going on until all was over. The
picciotti may not have been able to take their
part in regular battle ; but there were no traitors
among them, nor in the mountain villages
through which the expedition was to pass.

The evening of the 21st fell dark and rainy.
With nightfall the Thousand set out on a
toilsome march by unfrequented paths over
three mountain tops to Parco. Garibaldi v.ished
to move round from the west to the south of
Palermo, nearer to the sea. Their few pieces of
cannon were dismounted and carried on the
backs of the men. At three in the morning the
little army was at its destination, wet, and worn
out with fatigue, but without a man or gun or
precious cartridge missing. The picciotli had kept
the camp fires blazing above Monreale. General
Lanza, who had just been appointed the king's
alter ego in Sicily, was not to learn of the stolen
march for many hours to come.

The day was passed in taking up positions
along the zigzag mountain road leading up to
Plana dei Greci, six miles further back from
Palermo. Only then, after a night and a day of
toil, the men bivouacked around their works.

At daydawn of the 23rd Garibaldi and Tiirr —
the Hungarian, who was his other self in the
expedition — climbed a summit whence they
could command a view of Palermo and the
plains around. The mayor of Parco had just
provided the dreaded leader and his companion
with sorely-needed trousers. They looked down
on a gallant display of arms. With the exception
of the necessary garrison for the forts and a few
posts in the city, the royal troops were all in
camp on the plains to the west and north of the
city or by the headquarters of the general in the
great place before the royal palace. Garibaldi's

practised eye estimated their number at 15,000
men, and new reinforcements were arriving.
To oppose them in serious conflict he could
count on not 800 valid men.

Even as they looked, a body of troops, 3.000
to 4,000 .strong, began its march on Monreale.
When they reached the hills their movements
were impeded by the ceaseless fire of the picciotti
sheltered behind the positions left by the
Thousand. The firing continued during the
day and into the night.

When the morning of the 24th came, Garibaldi
could see that General Lanza, with thousands of
men at his disposal, was carrying out a plan of
attack skilfully designed to envelop and sweep
awa}- his little army. Beyond Monreale the
corps which had marched out yesterday was
rapidly advancing toward Piana to surround his
left. From below another strong body of troops
was marching directly on Parco. Tiirr was at
once sent to save their few pieces of artillery,
and, with the help of the Carabineers diud picciotti,
to guard the left. Garibaldi began hurrying on
the march to Piana. Tiirr's men were soon
attacked by three times their number, and the
picciotti fied in dismay. The Carabineers suc-
ceded in escaping amid the hills, while Tiirr,
with two companies, held the enemy with his
cannon.

At half-past two in the afternoon the whole
army arrived safely in Piana. In the evening
General Garibaldi held a council of war with his
colonels, Tiirr, Sirtori, and Orsini, and with
Signor Crispi, a long-exiled Sicilian lawyer
whom he had made his Secretary of State. He
proposed his final plan, which was to deceive
again and divide the forces of the enemy. It
was put in operation on the spot.

Orsini, with the artillery and baggage and
fifty men for escort, began an ostentatious
retreat along the road leading to Corleone,
many miles further in the interior. For one
half-mile the general and the bulk of the army
followed after. The royal outposts on the left
hastened to bring the information to General
Lanza, who was commanding in person, and he
at once sent his whole body of troops in cautious
pursuit. In the dense wood of Cianeto, Gari-
baldi and his men left Orsini to draw the enemy
further and further away, vrhile they turned
into a path that led to Marineo.

The night was clear, and Tiirr and Garibaldi,
as they marched side b}- side, looked to the star
of the Great Bear, which the latter had con-
nected with his destiny from a child. '' General,"

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

5aid the Hungarian, " it smiles on you. We
shall enter Palermo."

At midnight the little army bivouacked in
the forest. At four o'clock they were again on
foot, and at seven they were at Marineo, where
they passed the day. With the night they took
up again their
secret march,
and at ten they
reached Misil-
meri. La Masa
was there with
a few thousand
ptcctotti\ and
there were a
few members
of the Com-
mittee of Sici-
lian Liberties.
These were
told to notify
their friends
in the city that
the attack
would be made
on the morn-
ing of the 27th.
Tiirr sent word
to Colonel
Ebers, his com-
patriot and
correspondent
of the London

Times in Palermo, to come out and share in
the adventure.

The day of the 26th was employed in making
ready. Garibaldi passed the picciotti in review
at their camp of Gibilrossa. Then he ascended
Monte Griffone to study the city and plain
beneath. The roval guards along this south-
east side of the city were almost within hearing
of a trumpet blast from his mouth. They did
not dream that he was nigh.

III. — THE DESCENT OF THE THOUSAND.

The sun set on the evening of the 26th in a
mass of red vapours, portending the heat of the
night. The army of Garibaldi was already form-
ing on the table land of Gibilrossa, in the order
which they were to follow in their attack on the
Porta di Termini of Palermo.

First came the leaders, with Captain Misori at
their head, and three men from each company of
the Thousand under the command of Colonel
Tukery. They were in all thirty-two men. Im-
mediately behind them was the first corps of the

"'GENERAL, IT SMILES ON YOU.'

picciotti. The first battalion of the Thousand
fallowed, under the command of Bixio, who was
afterwards a famous general. Garibaldi came
next, with Tiirr and the remainder of his Staff^
followed by the Second battalion under Carini.
Last of all was the second corps of picciotti and

the Commis-
sariat. In all
they were 750
trained and ve-
teran soldiers
— all that was
available of the
original 1,065
— with two or
three thousand
picciotti^ pre-
paring to face
18,000 regular
troops of the
KingofNaples.
It was essen-
t ial to the
success of their
enterprise that
the alarm
should not be
given in Paler-
mo until as late
as possible.
Even if they
had wished to
follow it, there
city. With as
they clambered

the
be.

was no direct road to
much order as might
down the sides of a ravine which led to the
valley opening on the highway. It was eleven
o'clock when they arrived at this point. Tukery
halted his men to see if order was being kept in
the rear. The picciotti had completely disap-
peared. A false alarm on the mountain-side had
sent them flying. Two hours were needed to
re-form the line, when it was found that their
numbers were now reduced to 1,300 men. With
all these delays, at half-past one in the morning
they were still three miles from the city.

They marched forward in close columns until
they came up with the Neapolitan outposts. It
was now half-past three, and still dark. The
soldiers fired three gun-shots and retreated to
their guard-house. This was enough to disperse
two-thirds oi \\\q, picciotti \i\vo remained.

The thirty-two men composing the vanguard
of Garibaldi now dashed forward to the bridge
over the Oreto. This Ponte dell" Ammiraglio,

PALERMO: TH^ COMING OF GARIBALDI.

by a strange coincidence, was the scene of the
first combat of Robert Guiscard, the NornTan,
with the Saracen lords of Palermo, nearly 800
years before, and of Metellus with the Cartha-
ginians 1,200 years before that. It was now
defended by some 400 men. The soldiers of
Garibaldi first attacked them by a running fire
from behind the trees along the road, and then
entered on a hand-to-hand fight. A single
captain, Piva, was able to bring down four Nea-
politans with six shots from his revolver. Misori
hastened back to summon Bixio. The first
battalion charged, followed by Tiirr at the head
of the second. The bayonets now came into play,
and the Thousand had won their first position.

The alarm was now thoroughly given. While
the defenders of the bridge were fleeing to the
right, a strong column of the royal troops ad-
vanced on the left. Tiirr sent thirty men to
stop their advance, and the rest of the Thousand
charged past with fixed bayonets.

The Neapolitans now fell back on the street
leading: to the gate of Sant' Antonino, at the end of

movement of his troops. It now served the
purpose of those who were trying to overthrow:
the rule of his son. The Neapolitan commander
had already placed two cannons in the Via Sant'
Antonino, and at every moment their shots
swept across the path of Garibaldi. Even his
veterans held back for a moment. A carabineer
seated himself in a chair in full line of the firings
to persuade the piccwitt to go on.

Garibaldi now came up, just as his faithful
Tukery fell mortally wounded. As if animated
by his death, one of the leaders seized the banner
of United Italy, and bore it unharmed through
the enemy's fire. He was followed by five others,
and, little by little, the whole line passed under
the eyes of their general. He alone was on
horseback, and the most exposed, as he urged
his men forward.

Two hundred men were soon scattered through
the different streets of the city, nearest to the
gate ; and their leaders penetrated to the old
market, which had been the place of the revolu-
tion in 1848. Garibaldi soon arrived in the

THE COAST OF PALERMO, LOOKING TOWARDS TERMINI.

the Via Maqueda. This road was lined with the
houses of a small suburb, and cut across the street
of Termini, by which Garibaldi's men hoped to
enter the town. The old gate of Termini had
been torn down by King Bomba, and the street
leading to the bridge widened to facilitate the

midst of the fire which the royal troops were
keeping up on the rear of the little column. The
members of the Committee of Palermo were
waiting to receive him. He at once gave orders
to make barricades behind, and thus entrenched
himself in the midst of his enemies.

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

The people in the houses remained deaf to his
first appeal ; but b}- dint of calling they were at
length induced to appear at the windows, where
the sight of their deliverers gave them courage.
Mattresses were flung from every window, and
soon piled up over the barricades most exposed
to the royal artillery. Then a few of the inhabit-
ants began showing themselves in the streets.
They had but one answer to give to the invita-
tion to join with the invaders : '' We have no
arms." But they lent themselves bravely to the
tearing up of paving-stones for the barricades,
and the soldiers of Garibaldi found places of
vantage in their houses.

With a part of his men Garibaldi now made
his way to the centre of the city, where the Via
Maqueda is crossed at right angles by the long
Via Toledo (now the Corso Vittore Emanuele),
leading from the port through the whole length
of the city to the Royal Palace. The number of
his men was greatl}- exaggerated in the imagina-
tions of his opponents, and he easily drove back
the royal troops close to their general's head-
quarters at the Palace. The Bourbon Govern-
ment had just been paving this street with large
flags. These were now torn up and built into
barricades, while waggons and obstructions of
every kind were thrown across the neighbouring
streets.

At this moment the bombardment of the city
began from the Fort of Castellamare, in the bay,
and from the Royal Palace. The war-ships with
their great guns swept all the streets within line

of their fire. Three days were next taken up
with the constant advancing and retreating of
the now infuriated soldiers of the king, aided by
the steadv downpour of shot and shell on the
quarters where the men of Garibaldi — the
Italians, as they were now called, even by their
enemies — had entrenched themselves. But the
crumbling of walls only aided to the making of
new barricades, and impeded all the movements
of the regular troops. As the royal mercenaries
abandoned their positions, they set fire to the
buildings they had left. The convent of the
White Benedictines was burned, with fifty of the
prisoners who had been confined in it. All
Palermo worked actively with Garibaldi and his
men, in a fury of rage against the royal army.
Soon there remained to the latter only the two
forts of the harbour, the Royal Palace, and the
post at the Flora below the Porta di Termini, by
the bay. Even these could no longer communi-
cate with each other nor receive provisions.

Garibaldi had now conquered once more. On
the fourth day the king's general asked for an
armistice — to bury his dead. It was prolonged,
and at last the king ordered that the troops
should evacuate the city, provided that the garri-
son in the forts might depart with the honours
of war. To save the lives of the prisoners still
confined, this was granted. On the 20th of June
the last Neapolitan soldier had left Palermo.
Two days later the Thousand of Garibaldi were
on the way to deliver Messina, the last hold of
the Bourbons in Sicily.

"^4 !c^ ^^^^^

THE Red man has fought his last great
fight. The long and bloody struggle
waged between the White man and
the Red for the possession of the
North American continent has ended, and
ended for all time : the weaker has gone to the
wall. From the day in i6oq when Samuel de
Champlain and his hardy followers burst upon
the Iroquois at Ticonderoga, and, armed with
sticks that sf>oke with fire and spat out unseen
death he put these hitherto invincible warriors
to flight, to the day when the United States
were preparing to celebrate with unheard-of
splendour the centennial of their independence,
a ceaseless state of war existed between the
children of the forest and prairie and the pale-
faced usurpers. Every year had its tragedy,
every mile its white gravestone in history. And
as a fit ending to these centuries of conflict and
bloodshed came the crimson tragedy of the
blotting-out of Custer and his cavalrymen in
the Bad Lands of the Yellowstone. Many
notable tragedies, dramatic in execution as
appalling in effect, marked the long years, but
none struck home to the hearts of the American
people with such searching directness and force
as the finale to the Indian tragedy, in which
Sitting Bull, chief of the Sioux, and General
Custer, one of America's most dashing cavalry
leaders, played the leading roles.

Surelv never w^ere such Aborigines as the
North American Indian ! Surely never in the
history of the world did the White man en-
counter so nearly his match as when he first
plunged into the forests of the New World. A
mere handful in numbers were these Red men
at the best, and yet it can hardly be said that
they were ever subdued. In turn they met and
fought the Spaniard, then in all his glory, the
Frenchman, the Englishman — long and savage
wars these — and when Spaniard, Frenchman,
and Englishman as such disappeared and the

American took their place, the Indian fought
him more fiercely than ever. When one thinks
of the White man's countless numbers and the
weapons which his ingenuity and handicraft
supplied, the marvel is that the Indian has not
long since disappeared from the face of the earth.
But given their numbers and weapons and all, it
has been estimated that in the wars which the
White man waged against the Indians they lost
more than ten killed to the Redskin's one. Yet
notwithstanding the skill, the craftiness, the
sensible recognition of existing facts, the clever
stratagem and resistless ferocity which charac-
terises the Indian nature, the level-headed way
in which he set about his ^rars, to kill and not
be killed his motto : notwithstanding all this, the
prophecy of the great orator Red Jacket has
come true. He said, '' When I am gone and my
warnings are no longer heeded, the craft and
avarice of the White man will prevail. My heart
fails me when I think of my people so soon to be
scattered and forgotten."

The feud which began on the Atlantic coast
hundreds of years before, was destined to end it?
the far North-West, away up in a corner of the
United States then almost wholly unknown to
the White man, an angle of territory bounded
on the west by the Rockies, and on the north by
what formerly was known as Rupert's Land —
British territory. The immediate cause of the
trouble which led up to the massacre of Custer
and his battalion was one which had often before
provoked active hostilities. It was the refusal
of sundry bands of Indians to settle down on the
reservations placed at the disposal of the Indians
by the United States Government. The Indians
resented the attempt to confine them to re-
stricted districts. The Red man of the prairie
had been, from time immemorial, a notorious
nomad. On his lean, shaggy, ungainly pony, his
bow and quiver slung across his back, his buck-
skin breeches and shirt fringed with horsehair

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

I h

" UNTIL ONE DAY A GRIZZLY TRAPPER PEERED OUT
OF THE BUSHES."

and painted in gaudy colours, his long, greasy
black hair stuck full of the feathers of the turkey,
hawk and eagle, he had for centuries roamed
the vast prairie at ^vill : now fighting his he-
reditary foe, and again camping for weeks at a
time on the trail of the m:'ghty herds of buffalo
in their wanderings over the boundless prairie.
For ages the chafings of restriction were un-
known to him, until freedom had become almost
as necessary to the savage of the plains as the air
itself. This he enjoyed, until one day the advance
guard of civilisation, a grizzly trapper, dressed
in leather, and carrying a flintlock under his
arm, peered out of the bushes and saw
in astonishment the great rolling prairie,
the home of the buffalo and the Sioux.
The hardy pioneer soon followed, restless,
and ever pressing westward ; and one day,
the Sioux, sitting astride his barebacked
pony, saw in amazement the long train
of white-topped waggons — the prairie ---
schooner — drawn by oxen, trailing west-
ward through the tall grass, and realised >
that his ancient fastness had been invaded.
Immediately there began massacres on the
one hand and retaliation on the other.
The Sioux, the Bedouins of the prairie,
were gradually driven back and back in
the process. They strained fiercely at the
bonds, but were unable to break them.

During the winter of 1875-6 the autho-
rities at Washington, after every peace
able means had been tried in vain, found
it necessary to sanction the use of force
to compel certain refractory bands of

Indians to cease their wanderings and out-
rage, to place themselves under the control
of the Indian officials, and to settle on the
reservations set aside for their use. These
recalcitrant savages were Sioux, than whom
there were none more warlike and cruel, and
in their raids they wandered over an area of
something like 100,000 square miles in the then
territories of Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming.
There were a number of these bands of* Hostiles,"
each having a chief of its own ; but as dissatis-
faction spread among them, all gradually centred
around two great chiefs, '' Sitting Bull '" and '' Crazy
Horse." " Sitting Bull," at the time hostilities
commenced, was with his band in the vicinity of
the Little Missouri River in Dakota, and " Craz}-
Horse" and band were camped on the banks of
the Powder River in Wyoming. The region
was a wilderness : rugged, mountainous, and
deeply scarred by rapid streams and small
rivers, and, as has been told, totally unknown
to the United States soldiers. As guides to this
unfamiliar region and to scout by the way, the
command took with it Ree Indians under
" Bloody Knife " Chief, and Crows, led by Chief
'' Half-Yellow Face." These Indians did the
scouting well, but the Rees took the earliest
opportunity afforded them to slip away when
fighting began.

The first move made against these Sioux was
on March ist, 1876. General Sheridan, a dis-
tinguished leader in the American Civil War,
was given the direction of the campaign, with

'AND THE SIOUX SAW IN AMAZEMENT THE LONG TRAIN
OF WHITE-TOPPED WAGGONS."

THE FIGHT OF THE LITTLE BIG HORN.

headquarters at Chicago. General Terry held
the active command of the troops in the dis-
affected country. Subordinate to Terry were
Generals Custer and Crook, at the head of
mounted columns. Terry ordered these leaders
to move out against the " Hostiles," specifying
the route each Avas to take. Crook marched on
March ist, and on March 17th encountered
" Crazy Horse'' and his braves, and the command
was so severely handled in the en-
gagement that Crook fell back to his
base. Custer had been unable to
make a simultaneous advance with
Crook, owing to the weather being
so bad that it was found impos-
sible to venture into the region
of heavy snows and swollen rivers.

The defeat of Crook made a long war inevitable.
General Sheridan reinforced the troops in the
disaffected region, and remodelled his plan of
campaign. The troops were formed into three
columns instead of two ; and as soon as the
weather moderated, so as to admit of favourable
progress, all set out to trap the Indians. The
three columns were commanded respectivel}' by
Generals Terry, Crook, and Gibbon. Custer

"the warriors danced the war- dance

The news of Crook's defeat spread like wildfire
among the Indian agencies. Couriers sped from
the camps of '' Crazy Horse" and " Sitting Bull."
To every Indian encampment in that part ot
the States one or more messengers came, and
squatting on the hardened earth of some smoky
Tepee, to the listening braves told of the killing
of the Paleface and the triumph of the Red, and
before he had finished his tale, wigwams were
struck and loaded to the patient ponies, the
squaws strapped their papooses to their backs, and
the warriors, with faces painted in ghastly and
fantastical streaks, danced the war-dance, snatched
up their rifles, and mounting their ponies, set out
to take part in reaping the harvest of scalps.

would have led in place of Terry, had it not been
that just before the setting out of the expedition
he fell from the good graces of President Grant.
Indeed, so displeased was Grant with Custer,
that he sent definite instructions that Custer
was not to be allowed to accompany the ex-
pedition ; and it was only after a personal appeal
to Grant by Custer, and the intercession of
Sheridan, that the famous cavalry leader was
allowed to take his place at the head of his
regiment and march away, never to return.

George Armstrong Custer's career, from the
day he graduated at the United States Military
Academy to the day of his death, fifteen years
after, was one of meteoric brilliancy. A native

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

of New Rumley, Ohio, he graduated at West
Point on the very outbreak of the Civil War.
From West Point he went direct to Washington,
and on the day of his arrival at the capital he
was entrusted by General Scott with despatches
tor General McDowell, then on his way with the
army of the Potomac to fight the first general
battle of the Civil War— Bull Run.

Custer arrived in the nick of time, was assigned
to dutv as lieutenant of the 5th Cavalr}-, and took
his place in the company just in time to take part
in the fight that followed. In his first battles he
attracted the attention of his superior officers by
his daring and dash and his brilliancy in handling
men ; and in 1862 his many exploits effected his
promotion to the captaincy of the company.

teetotaller, and abstainer from the use of tobacco.
Such was the soldier who took his place in com-
mand of the 7th United States Cavalry and rode
away to the Bad Lands of the Yellowstone.

On May 17th the column marched from Fort
Abraham Lincoln, on the Missouri River, and
proceeding by easy stages, crossed the Little
Missouri River on May 31st, and camped on the
banks of the Powder, a tributary of the Yellow-
stone. The 7th Cavalry was divided into two
columns, commanded by Major Reno and
Captain Benteen. As the Indian country had
now been reached, on June lOth General Terry
sent Major Reno with his command (six troops)
to scout up the Powder, and General Custer,
with the left wing of the 7th, marched to the

FIGHT OF THE

.j^ UTILE BIG HORN.

■«Sfr^- ->.

PLAN OF THE BATTLEFIELD ; SHOWING ROUTES TAKEN BY THE TWO
DIVISIONS AND THE SPOT WHERE CUSTER FELL.

Immediately afterwards, b}^ a clever ruse, he
surprised the Southerners and captured the first
colours taken by the army of the Potomac from
the South in the war.

Continuing as he had begun, in each suc-
cessive engagement he did some notable deed
which brought him again and again to the
attention of his superior officers, and in 1865
he had risen to the position of Brigadier-General
of Volunteers, and was given command of the
Michigan brigades.

He participated in all but one of the battles
of the army of the Potomac, and was in a
position to say with truth to his men : " You
have never lost a gun, never lost a colour, 'and
never been defeated ; and notwithstanding the
numerous engagements in which you have borne
a prominent part, you have captured every piece
of artillery which the enemy has dared to open
upon you." He was a man of close upon six
feet in height, lithe^ active, handsome, a staunch

mouth of the Tongue and there awaited Reno's
return. The major reached Custer's camp on
the iqth, and reported plenty of Indian "signs"
leading up the banks of the Rosebud. The
whole command set out at once for that stream
and pitched tents at its mouth on June 21st, and
made ready for immediate active operations.
At a consultation between Generals Terry,
Gibbon and Custer, it was arranged that the 7th
United States Cavalry, commanded in person by
General Custer, should set out on the trail Major
Reno had discovered, overtake the Indians, corner
them, and bring about a fight. This they did.

With truly Anglo-Saxon superiority the
generals wofully under-estimated the fighting
strength of the foe. General Custer, with his
700 cavalrymen, believed he would be able to
cope with more savages than he was likelv to
have the good fortune to meet, and his brother
generals were under the same impression.
They found out their mistake when too late.

THE FIGHT OF THE LITTLE BIG HORN.

" Sitting Bull," chief of a band of LTncpapa
Sioux Indians, was at this time forty-two years
old. A great, squatty, hulking, low-browed
savage, of forbidding looks and enormous
strength, and in height as near as might be to
five feet eight inches. He had the reputation
among his own followers, as well as the warriors
of other bands, of being a Medicine-man of mark,
a dealer in omens, a conjurer of demons, a
weaver of magic, a foreteller of dire events, and
a familiar of departed spirits. Outside of his
magic he was known as a coward, but this
defect they overlooked in the belief that his
soothsayings fully compensated for the de-
ficiency in his personal valour. Their faith in
his incantations was unbounded. In the fight of
the Little Big Horn, " Sitting Bull " divided his
energies between getting as far from the scene
of strife as his fat legs would carry him, and
performing fanatical rites to the confounding
of the White man. The actual leaders in the
fight were " Crazy Horse," " Gall," and " Crow
King " ; and in a lesser degree, " Low Dog,"
" Big Road," " Hump," '' Spotted Eagle," and
" Little Horse." all chiefs of bands and men of
ability and unflinching personal courage. These
superintended the movements of the " Hos-
tiles," and by their personal feats of daring
encouraged their followers, while " Sitting Bull "'
looked after the Fates and took the kudos of
the game.

At noon on June 22nd Custer and his men
set out for the wilderness. Warnings and omens
do not seem to have been confined to the wig-
wam of the Red man, for on the fatal . march
to the Little Big Horn there were many that
foretold disaster to the expedition.

Captain Godfrey, who marched with the
columns, in his written account of the calamitous
affair, mentions many incidents which were taken
to point to disaster. He tells, for instance, that
on the evening of the first day of their march
Custer sent for his oflficers.

After a " talk," Lieutenant Wallace said to
Godfrey, as they walked away from the general's
tent, " Godfrey, I believe General Custer is
going to be killed." Asked his reasons for this
belief, he simply answered : " I have never heard
Custer speak in that way before."

A little later in the evening Captain Godfrey
came upon a camp-fire, around which sat
" Bloody Knife," " Half- Yellow-Face," and the
interpreter Bouyer. The half-breed asked the
captain if he had ever fought against the Sioux.
Answered in the affirmative, the interpreter

gazed into the fire for a few moments before
saying emphatically, " I can tell you we are
going to have a big fight."

Then again an ominous thing happened. The
general's headquarters-flag was blown down and
fell to the rear, and in being replanted again
fell to the rear.

These and many other eerie happenings seem
to have sent a thrill of foreboding through the
whole command as it went on its wav to the
unexplored valley of the Little Big Horn. In
their tents, when night had fallen and the fires
were out — for on this march no fire burned and
nothing was done likely to attract the eye of
any Indian who might happen to be roaming
about in the vicinity — the men sat in the dark
and told stories of scalpings and burnings at the
stake. Even the Red scouts caught the pre-
vailing current of premonition, and hastened to
their Medicine-man to be anointed as a charm
against the cruelty of the dreaded Sioux.

During the march up the Rosebud, Indian
*' signs " were met with at everv turn. Camping-
place after camping-place was found. The
grass had been closely cropped by herds of
ponies ; the ashes of a hundred camp-fires lay
grey on the bare ground. On June 24th the
column passed a great camping-place, the gaunt
frame of a huge sundance-lodge still standing,
and against one of the posts the scalp of a White
man fluttered in the wind.

Soon after this- the Crow scouts, who had
been working energetically, returned to the
camp and reported to Custer that although
they had come across no Sioux, still, from
indications discovered, they felt sure that the
command was in the neighbourhood of an
encampment. That night the column was
divided into two, so as to raise as little dust
as possible, and made a forced march ; and on
the morning of June 25th Custer, in a personal
reconnoitre, discovered the foe of which he was
in search. Although he found himself unable
to locate the actual village, he saw great herds
of ponies, saw the smoke curling up in the
air of morning, and heard the barking of the
dogs, denoting the presence of a village behind
a hill that lay in front of him. It had been
Custer's intention to remain quietly where his
command rested until night fell, when he would
advance his forces, and in the grey of morning
sweep down upon the Sioux. But this plan
miscarried. Word reached the leader that a
Sioux Indian had discovered the presence of
the United States troops and had galloped off

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

to warn his tribe. Custer resolved to attack
at once.

The command set out for " Sitting Bull's "
village shortly before noon. It was divided into
three battalions — Major Reno commanding the
advance, General Custer following with the
second, and Captain Benteen the third, the pack
train being under the charge of Lieutenant
Mathey. Custer's battalion consisted of Troops
*' C," commanded by the general's brother, T. W.
Custer ; " I," Captain Keogh ; " F,'' Captain
Yates ; " E," Lieutenants Smith and Sturgis ;
*' L," Lieutenants Calhoun and Crittenden ;
with Lieutenant Cook adjutant, and Dr. G. E.
Lord medical officer.

The whole command marched down a valley
for some -distance and then separated, intending
to strike the village at diflferent points. Custer's
battalion took to the right to cross the hills
and ride down upon the encampment, and Major
Reno branched off to the left and forded the
Little Big Horn — a stream that gives the battle
its name — at the mouth of a stream now called
Benteen's Creek. As they were separating,
Custer sent an order to Reno to " move forward
at as rapid gait as he thought prudent, and
charge the village afterwards, and the whole
outfit would support him.''

After separation the onlv word received from
Custer was an order signed by the adjutant, and
addressed to Captain Benteen, which read :
*' Benteen, come on. Big village. Be quick.
Bring Packs ; '' and a postscript, " Bring Packs."
About the time this message must have been
despatched, those with Reno beheld the general
and his men on top of a hill two miles or more
away, looking down upon the village, and saw
Custer take off his liat and wave it in the air,
as if either beckoning the other battalions to his
assistance or cheering his men.

The battalion disappeared over the brow of the
hill, and after that no word or sign ever came irom
Custer or anyone of his whole command , Not a
man of the hundreds that followed the general
in the charge lived to tell the tale. The bat-
talion was simply wiped out ol existence. In after
years, some of the Indians who took part in the
massacre, laying aside their inbred taciturnitv,
consented to show a few United States officers
over the field and explain what had happened and
how it had happened ; but beyond these meagre
reports, and the position in which the bodies of
the soldiers were found after the Indians had
finished with their rejoicings and the mutilations
of the dead, nothing is known of Custer's last

charge. But those acquainted with Custer and
with Indian fighting are able to picture the
scene.

When Custer reached the top of the hill,
instead of a village of some 800 or 1,000 warriors,
he saw beneath him a veritable city of wigwams
spread out in the valle}'. The smoke from the
fires clouded the sky, great herds of ponies
cropped the grass as far as the eye could see,
thousands of painted Sioux, armed, and astride
their shaggy ponies, galloped in circles, working
themselves into a frenzy of fury to fight the
White man. Medicine-men danced and yelled
their incantations, and squaws busily struck the
tents and hurried their papooses and swarms of
dusky children out of harm's way. When this
scene of angry life met his gaze, General Custer,
old Indian fighter that he was, must have re-
cognised that he was in for what seemed likely
to be his last fight. But the mistake had been
made. The time had passed for new plans of
battle. He could not turn his back on the
warriors to join his battalion with the others,
for already the painted bucks were circling round
him and firing into his ranks, and already, in all
probability, he heard the crack of rifles to his left,
telling him that the Indians were upon Reno.
Hemmed in, retreat out of the question, and
trusting that his other battalions would hurry to
his support, he called to his men, and together
they plunged into the shrieking, shouting, seeth-
ing mass of painted and befeathered Red men —
and died.

Reno acted differently. Whether or no he
carried caution to an unjustifiable length is a
question that has been fiercel}' discussed, at least
some of the officers who were with him being
his greatest denouncers. So bitter were the
charges made against him that a Government
inquiry was instituted, and, it is onl}' right to say,
it exonerated him from blame.

Reno's battalion struck the Indians shortly
after crossing the Little Big Horn, and the Ree
scouts at once made for the rear to be out oi
danger. When the Sioux Indians appeared
in considerable force on his front, instead of
charging the village as Custer had ordered,
Reno dismounted his troops to fight on foot,
and taking advantage of timber he remained
stationary for some long time in almost absolute
security. Later he ordered a retreat to the
Bluffs, and while executing this order, and in the
preceding skirmishes, Lieutenants Mcintosh and
Hodgson, Dr. De Wolf, and twenty-nine men
and scouts were killed.

THE FIGHT OF THE LITTLE BIG HORN.

Soon after reaching the Bluffs Captain Ben-
teen's battalion joined Reno, placing the latter
in command of a larger force than Custer had
with him ; but notwithstanding this, no active
measures were adopted, the two battalions
standing nerveless and inactive, listening to

were not near enough to the spot to make out
what it was all about. The officers with field-
glasses tried their best to find out where Custer
and his battalion were, but, of course, this was
impossible, for by this time every man, with
Custer, had been slain.

'they plunged into the seething mass of painted and befeathered red men" (/. 48).

heavy firing and much ominous noise in the
direction of the village, where Custer was en-
gaged in his death-struggle. True, an advance
was made to a hill — the hill from which earlier
in the day Custer had been seen to wave his hat.
From the top of this elevation could be seen a
great commotion in the valley, much riding and
shouting and firing ; but still Reno and his men
a.

Chief " Gall " afterwards said that the news of
the two columns of troops advancing against
the village struck consternation to the heart
of the Indians, but when Reno was seen
to dismount and remain stationary, they were
glad, for it allowed the whole Indian force to
be hurled against Custer. Him out of the
wa}-, they concentrated against Reno. When

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

this latter movement took place Reno retreated
again to the Bluffs, where close to the river he
picked upon a strong position and successfully
withstood all the afternoon a heavy fire. Dark-
ness came down, and the troops spent an anxious
night intrenching themselves, and wondering
what had happened to their companions with
Custer, but knowing nothing e.xcept that the
general must have been defeated.

Lying under the stars, surrounded by the
*' Hostiles," they passed a night of restlessness
and alarm. The sky was aglare with light from
the bonfires ; the silence of the night pierced
by many strange cries of exultation and hate,
by shots, and the monotonous beating of the
tom-tom for the scalp-dance. At times a nervous
man would spring from his bivouac on the
earth to shout that he heard the march of
approaching relief, and bugles rang out a wel-
come that was only answered by the echoes
from the hills.

When morning dawned the Sioux opened fire,
and the day which followed was one of fevered
sorties and galling waiting. On the stronghold
that day Reno's men lost eighteen killed and
had fifty-two wounded, and they spent a second
anxious night. But on the morning of June
27th General Terry raised the siege and rode
into camp. Terry, in his journey, had come
across more than a hundred dead, and that an
awful tragedy had been enacted he knew. But
he did not know the full extent of the slaughter.
On the 28th the army marched to the battlefield

of the Little Big Horn. Scattered on the slope
of the hill they found 212 dead. General Custer,
his brother — Captain T. W. Custer — Captains
Keogh and Yates, Lieutenants Cook, Crittenden,
Reily, Calhoun, Smith, and other officers of their
men were found, each scalped and mutilated
except Custer himself. He lay apparently as
he had fallen, the Lidians refraining from wreak-
ing vengeance on the leader, who was well
known to " Sitting Bull " and others of the chiefs.
The bodies of Lieutenants Porter, Harrington,
and Sturgis, and Dr. Lord, were never found.

The killed of the entire command was 265, and
the slaving of Custer and his men was the
crimson spot of the first Centennial Year of the
United States.

It is also rendered memorable as being the
last great victory the Red man achieved over the
White in the fight for the American continent.
For as though frightened at the thoroughness of
their victory, and fearing as harsh a retribution,
the followers of " Sitting Bull " afterwards flitted
from place to place, refusing to join issues with
the armies sent to catch them, and gradually
melted awa}-, breaking up into small bands, or
returning to the agencies from which they had
surreptitiously marched but a few weeks before.
The great armies which, immediatel}- the news
of Custer's massacre reached Washington, were
sent to trap the Indians, marched up and down
the Bad Lands ; but in all their marching and
countermarchings were never able to find an
Indian to fight.

THE great Imperial Eagle of France had
been caught and caged at Elba, and
after close on twentj'-five years of
storm and tumult, Europe was at peace.

The armies which had driven the Eagle out of
France had marched home again, robbing the
Eagle's nest of many ill-gotten trophies and
leaving in his place a horde of vultiires who
claimed the nest as theirs.

As is the manner of vultures, there was much
gorging : Louis XVIII. , the man " who had
learned nothing, ^iwA. forgotten nothing." brought
back in his train a host of hungry folk, princes
of the blood royal, dukes, and noble dames ;
and France soon foimd that it would be made
to suffer for its Revolution and its Republic, and
that the victories of its Emperor were like to
cost it dear. Royalists filled the high places in
Church and State. Shameless rapacity and
mean reprisals were seen on every side ; and
in the army the most scandalous injustices were
unblushingl}' practised.

People began to look with regret towards the
Mediterranean isle where the Eagle plumed his
ruffled feathers moodily.

There were mysterious nods and glances, and
allusions to a certain flower which a certain
" little corporal " was known to have loved.

" He will return again with the violet,"' they
said in whispers.

Ladies affected violet-coloured silks, and rings
of the same hue became fashionable, bearing
the motto "It will re-appear in Spring.''

Nor were they wrong, for on the ist March,
1815, at five o'clock in the afternoon. Napoleon
the Great, with a hundred dismounted Lancers
of the Guard, some veteran Grenadiers and a
few officers, landed in the Gulf of San Juan,
and began that triumphal progress which ended
at Waterloo.

His advance is curiously recorded in the
papers of the day : I quote from the Monitciir: —

" The cannibal has left his den."

*' The Corsican wolf has landed in the Bay of

San Juan."

" The tiger has arrived at Gay."

"The wretch spent the night at Grenoble."

" The tyrant has arrived at Lyons."

" The usurper has been seen within fifty miles

of Paris."

" Bonaparte is advancing with great rapidity,

but he will not set his foot inside the walls of

Paris.''

'' To-morrow Napoleon will be at our gates ! "
" The Emperor has arrived at "Fontainebleau."
" His Imperial Majesty Napoleon entered

Paris 3-esterday, surrounded b3'hJs loy;il subjects."

At midnight on the 19th March, Louis the
Gross got into his carriage by torchlight, and
was driven off to Lille ; the Comte d'Artois and
the Court followed an hour later, and the good
citizens found when they rose ne.xt morning,
two notices fastened to the railings of the Place
Carrousel —

'' Palace to let, well furnished, except the
kitchen utensils, which have been carried away
by the late proprietor."

And the other —

" A large fat hog to be sold for one Napoleon."

At eight o'clock that evening the Emperor wac
carried up the grand staircase of the Tuileriet
on the shoulders of his officers, and from that
moment until the 12th June the master-muid
was wrestling with a task vast enough to have
discouraged twenty brains !

Out of chaos he produced order ; a new
Government was formed, a new army created ;

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

five days after his entry the Allied Sovereigns
declared him an outlaw ; on the ist June he
distributed Eagles to his troops, and took an
oath/of allegiance to the new Constitution. But
Europe had meanwhile flown to arms, and

bivouac fires were suddenly seen glowing redly
in the darkness beyond Charleroi, no one kne^r

exactly where he was.

» » » * *

Brussels swarmed with fashionable folk, and

y\.

^"■-^^J^u^it^v

THE FARM OF QUATRE BRAS.

'300,000 Austrians were to enter France by
Switzerland and the Rhine ; 200,000 Russians
were marching on Alsace ; Prussia had 236,000,
half of whom were ready for action, so that,
including our English 80,000, the Netherland
contingent and the minor States of Gerrjiany, he
had to face the onslaught of more than 1 ,000,000
men, with only 214,000 at his immediate com-
mand. England and Prussia were the first to
arrive ; it would be July before the others could
reach the frontier, so. Napoleon, leaving armies
of observation at various points, marched against
Belgium, hoping to defeat Wellington and
Bliicher in time to turn about and face the

, ■storm, clouds gathering in the east.

# # # * *

It was the month of June, and the weather was
intensely warm. An army under Wellington,
some 100,000 strong, including British, King's
German Legion, Hanoverian, Brunswick, Dutch,
Belgian, and Nassau troops, was distributed in
cantonments from the Scheldt to the Charleroi

• chaussec.

It was a heterogeneous force, hastily got to-
gether, and a large proportion of it by no means
to be depended upon.

Of the British regiments, many were formed
of weak second and third battalions which had
never been under fire, and nearly 800 militiamen
fought in the ranks of the 3rd Guards and
42nd Highlanders, those in the Guards actually
wearing their Surrey jackets.

Bliicher's force, seasoned veterans for the most
part, lay in four separate corps on the frontier
south of Brussels, and so masterly were Napo-

' Icon's movements, that until the lights of his

the families of officers who were with the
army.

The Duchess of Richmond gave a ball on
the night of the 15th June, the list of invited
guests being curious, and not a little melancholy.
Among the two hundred odd names we read
those of Wellington, Uxbridge, and Hussey
Vivian ; two Ponsonbys, one of whom was to
die three days later ; Hay, the handsome lad
who had won a sweepstake at Grammont the
Tuesday before, and whose young life ebbed
out on the Friday at Ouatre Bras ; Cameron,
of Fassifern, who also fell there ; Dick of the
42nd, killed at Sobraon in '46 ; and aide-de-
camp Cathcart, who lived till Inkerman, where a
ball and three bayonet thrusts closed his strange
career. These and many others of more or less
note danced in the long, low-roofed, barn-like
room which His Grace of Richmond had hired
for the occasion from his neighbour. Van Asch,
the coachbuilder.

About midnight Wellington, having already
learned that the outposts had been engaged,
went to the ball, where he found the Prince
of Orange. Now, the Prince of Orange, who
seemed fated to cause the useless sacrifice of
valuable life, ought to have been at his post at
Binche, and thither the duke promptly sent
him, after first inquiring if there were any news.

" No, nothing, but that the French have
crossed the Sambre, and had a brush with the
Prussians ! " Miiffling had previously brought
the intelligence, which should have arrived much
sooner, the duke afterwards saying to Napier :
" I cannot tell the world that Bliicher picked the
fattest man in his army to ride with an express

WATERLOO.

33.

to me, and that he took thirty hours to go
thirty miles."

Far from being surprised (as some writers have
it), the duke's orders were despatched before he
went to that now historic entertainment, and
the dancing continued long after he and his
officers had left.

At four o'clock Pack's Highlanders, in kilt
and feather bonnet, swung across the Place
Royale and passed through the Namur Gate —
the rising sun glinting on their accoutremerrts,
their bagpipes waking the sleeping streets.
" Come to me and I will give you flesh," was
the weird pibroch of the Black Watch, and many

picton's division off to the front.

At two o'clock, while it was yet dark,
strange sounds were heard under the trees
—the shuffling of men's feet, the ringing
of musket-butts on the ground, short words of
command, and the running ripple of the roll-call
along the ranks.

People opened their windows and looked out ;
carriages returning from the ball drew up and
waited : it was Picton's Division off to the
front.

a Highland laddie heard it that morning for the
last time.

Some of the officers marched in silk stockings
and dancing-pumps. Lingering too long at the
ball, they had not had time— or perhaps, as the,
night was warm, they had not troubled— to
change them ; and there were not, a few who
never found time again.

Out in the early morning along the great high-
way they went, past lonely farms and clustering

BATTLES OF THE NIXETEEXTH CENTURY.

villages, through the gre}- -green gloom of the
beech woods of Soigne to Mont St. Jean,
where they halted for breakfast, and where
about eight the duke passed them with his staff,
leaving strict orders to keep the road clear ;
and at noon the troops were on the marc'n
again for Quatre Bras, which was the tiery
prelude to the greatest battle fought in modern
times.

The heat was so intense that one man of
the 95th Rifles went mad, and fell dead in the
road ; but the others pushed on, and were soon
afterwards under fire.

If you take a map of Belgium, placing your
finger on Brussels, and pass it down the great
road running south, you will find, some twelve
miles from the capital, the village of Mont St.
Jean ; a little beyond which place a cross-
road from Wavre intersects the chaussee^ and
at that point move 3'our finger at right angles,
right and left, for a mile or so each way, and
you have, roughly, the English position on the
18th June.

Continuing again, still southward, you will
pass La Belle Alliance and Genappe, and nine
miles from the cross-roads before Mont St. Jean
is Quatre Bras.

Rolling ridges of waving grain, some woods in
all their .summer beauty, a gabled farmhouse,
and a few cottages where four ways meet— that
is one's impression of Quatre Bras, which
Ney had orders to take, and drive out Per-
poncher's Dutch Belgians posted there ; but we
arrived to their assistance, corps after corps, at
intervals, and forming up in line and square,
repulsed the Cuirassiers and Lancers who charged
through the tall r3'e.

The crops were so high that the gallant French
cavalry had to resort to a curious device in
singling out our regiments. A horseman would
dash for^vard, find out the position, plant a lance
in the ground, and disappear ; then, in a few
moments, guided by the fluttering pennon, his
comrades would burst upon us — invisible until
within a few horse-lengths.

Waterloo has put Quatre Bras into the shade,
but few conflicts have been more brilliant.

Our 69th — thanks to Orange, who interfered
with its formation just as the 8th Cuirassiers
came through the corn — lost its only colour,
taken by Trooper Lami, although Volunteer
Clarke received twenty-three wounds and lost
the use of an arm in its defence.

The 69th 's other colour had been captured at
iBiergen-op-Zoom, and \sy= hung in the Invalides.

By four o'clock the 44th had upwards of 16
officers and 200 men killed and wounded.

A grey-headed French lancer drove his point
into Ensign Christie's left eye, down through his
face, piercing his tongue and entering the jaw :
but m tha: shockmg condition he stilt sruc'i:
manfully to tne colour-pole, until, finding "ninv
self overpowered, he threw the colour down
and lay upon it, and some privates of the
regiment closing round the Frenchman, lifted
him out of his saddle on their bayonet points !

The 92nd Highlanders — the old Gordons of
Peninsular fame — were the last of Picton's men
to reach the field, and were formed up in line.

" Ninety-second, don't fire till I tell you ! "
cried Wellington, as a mass of Cuirassiers
charged them in his presence ; and the word
was not given until the dashing horsemen were
within twenty yards.

A little later, the duke said again : " New,
q2nd, you must charge these two columns of
infantry " ; and charge they did, over a ditch,
driving the French before them, but their be-
loved colonel, Cameron, received a death-wound
from the upper windows of a house.

His horse turned and bolted with him, back
along the road, until he came to his master'.^
groom holding a second mount, when, stopping
suddenly, the dying man was pitched on his
head on to the stone causeway. But he had
been terribly avenged ; for the kilted Highland-
men burst into the house with a roar and put
every soul inside to the bayonet.

" Where is the rest of the regiment ? " asked
Picton in the evening. Alas ! upwards of half
the '* gay Gordons " had perished in the fray.

Through the broiling heat of that summer
day our infantry stood firm, growing stronger
as regiment after regiment arrived, and fresh
batteries unlimbered in the trampled corn, until
at night Ney fell back, leaving us in posses-
sion ; our cavalr\- came up, jaded by their long
marches ; and we bivouacked on the battlefield,
cooking our suppers in the cuirasses o. the

slain.

* * * # *

Meanwhile, Napoleon had beaten Bliicher a
few miles away at Ligny, but had neglected, in
most un-Napoleonic fashion, to follow up his
advantage, and the wily old hussar— he was
over seventy-three — slipped off in the dark and
retreated on Wavre.

When Wellington learned this next morning,
he said to Captaia Bowles : " Old Bliicher has
had a good licking, and has gone back to

WATERLOO.

t^*^

Wavre. As he has gone back, we must go too.
t suppose in England they will say we have been
licked. I can't help that." So back we went,
along the Brussels road, our cavalry' covering
the retreat until we reached the stronger
position before Mont St. Jean, where we halted
and faced about, and glued ourselves on the
ndge across the causeway in such a manner
that all the magnificent chivalry of France
could never move us.

During the retreat from Ouatre Bras on the
17th, all went well until the middle of the day.
The wounded had been collected ; the columns
fled off along the road ; one of the regiments
even found time to halt and flog a marauder :
when, the enemy's cavalry pressing our rear-
guard too closely, some Horse Artillery- guns
opened fire, and the discharge seemed to burst
the heavy rainclouds.

It poured down in torrents ; roads were turned
into watercourses, the fields and hollows be-
came swamps ; we had a smart brush with some
Lancers at Genappe, where our 7th Hussars and
1st Life Guards charged several times ; the loth
Hussars had also occasion to dismount some men
and line a hedgerow with their carbines ; but
the main feature of the retreat was a weary tramp
in a deluge of rain. The cavalry- had their
cloaks, it is true, but the greatcoats of the foot-
soldiers had been sent back to England. Soaked
to the skin, we arrived at the ridge above La
Haye Sainte, and prepared to pass the night
without covering of any kind. The French
advanced almost up to us, and Captain Mercer
was giving them a few rounds from his 9-pounders
when a man in a shabby old drab overcoat and
rusty round hat strolled towards him and began
a conversation. Mercer, who thought him one
of the numerous amateurs with whom Brussels
was swarming, answered curtly enough, and the
stranger went away.

That shabby man was General Picton, who
fell next day on the ver}' spot where he received
this unmerited snubbing. He fought at Ouatre
Bras in plain clothes, having joined the army
hurriedly in advance of his baggage, and there
is good reason to believe that he wore the same
dress at Waterloo.

Now commenced preparations for a dismal
bivouac. The French fell back and did not
disturb us again, the}- too suffering from the
drenching rain, which beat with a melancholy
hissing on the cornfields, the clover, the potato
patches and ploughed land which formed both
positions.

Some of our officers found shelter in neigh-
bouring cottages ; Lord Uxbridge, afterwards
Marquis of Anglesey, crept into a piggerj- and
sipped tea with Way mouth of the 2nd Life
Guards ; but most of them cowered with their
men round wretched fires which here and there
were coaxed into burning.

One of Mercer's lieutenants had an umbrella,
which had caused much merriment during the
march, but he and his captain found it a haven
of refuge under the lee of a hedge that night.

The cavalry- stood to their horses, cloaked,
with one flap over the saddle ; some few were
luck)' enough to get a bundle of straw or pea-
sticks to sit down upon, and all looked anxiously
for the dawn — fated to prove the last to thousands
of them. With morning the rain gradually
declined to a drizzle, which finally ceased ; fires
sprang up, arms were cleaned, and a buzz of
voices rose along the line as tall Lifeguardsmen
went down behind La Haye Sainte to dig
potatoes, where, a few hours later, they were
charging knee to knee, and ever}- one made
shift to get what he could — with most it was
only a hard biscuit — and to dr\- himself, which
was a still more difficult matter.

Wet to the skin, splashed from head to foot
in mud and mire, cold, shivering, unsha%'en
( the ' foundation laid of acute rheumatism, to
which a pension oi Jive pence a day, in some cases
ten pence, was applied by a grateful country,
to its indelible disgrace), such was the condition
of those brave hearts who wat about to make
the name of " Waterloo-man " a household word

for all the ages.

* * # » *

The Brussels road runs across a shallow valley,
three-quarters of a mile in width, all green and
golden with the ripenmg grain, dipping sharply
into it by the white-walled, blue-roofed farm-
stead of La Haye Sainte, and rising gently out
again at the cabaret of La Belle Alliance on its
way to the frontier beyond Charleroi.

The valley is bounded by two ridges : on the
northern one along the cross road which runs
nearly the whole length of the position, our
army was posted in the form of a thin crescent ;
on the southern ridge and the slopes leading
down into the valley the French forces were
afterwards distributed, also, to some e.xtent, in
crescent shape.

These crescents had their tips advanced
towards each other, and enclosed in the oval
thus formed were two important strongholds —
La Haye Sainte, in advance of our left centre^

WATERLOO.

and the chateau of Hougoumont, some distance
in front of our right wing ; while away to the
extreme left, the white buildings of Papelotte
partly concealed Ter La Haye farm and the
red-tiled hamlet of Smohain, the end of our
line in that direction.

The cross-road which I have mentioned as
lying along our position, and which was the

a garden laid out in the French style, and a
smaller garden full of currant bushes ; barns
and quaint outbuildings clustering round the
chateau, a brick wall about the height of a tall
man, built on lower courses of grey stone,
enclosing the garden, and at the east end of it
a large open orchard ; from the north-west
corner, an avenue of ancient poplars winding

•A SHOUr OF 'VIVE L'eMPEKEUK !' KULLED ALONG THE EIELD " (/. 58).

celebrated '' sunken road of Ohain," runs in some
places between banks, at others on the level ; it
is paved down its centre, like most Belgian roads,
with irregular stones, terrible to traverse for any
distance, and it undulates gently, as the ridge
rises and falls, until it joins the Nivelle chaiissce
beyond Hougoumont. Hougoumont, surrounded
by a quadrangle of tall trees, lies in a hollow in
front of our ridge, perhaps halfway between it
and the enemy's line. A Flemish chateau with

into the Nivelle road with an abattis of tree
trunks there, held by a company of the 51st
Light Infantry ; between the south wall and
the French, a beech wood, through which one
could see the corn-clad slopes beyond : and that
was Hougoumont on the day of the battle.

The beech wood has been cut down, the
apple-trees are sparse and scanty now, the
chateau was burned by the French shells, and
the garden is a grassy paddock ; but the rest

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

remains, loopholed and pockmarked with balls,
a monument to the gallantry of two brave
nations. The light companies of the Foot
Guards occupied it on the 17th, and all night
long they were busy, boring walls, barricading
the gateways and erecting platforms from which
to pour their fire.

On the high ground behind Hougoumont on
our side the 2nd Brigade of British Guards was
posted, having Maitland's Guards on its left ;
beyond Maitland was Alten's Infantry and
Kielmansegge's Hanoverians, flanked in their
turn by the gallant King's German Legion, in
the pay of England, whose left rested on the
Brussels chaiissec, behind La Haye Sainte. On
the other side of the chaussee was Kempt, then
Pack's Highlanders, the Royal Scots, and 44th
Regiment, some more Hanoverians, under Best,
the 5th Hanoverians of Vincke,Vandeleur's Light
Dragoons, and Vivian's Hussar Brigade.

The 2nd Rifles of the German Legion held
La Haye Sainte, three companies of our 95th
occupying a knoll and sandpit on the other side
of the road, and Papelotte was garrisoned by
Dutch Belgians, who behaved with the greatest
gallantry.

Along the front of this, our first fighting line,
the artillery was posted at intervals, and sufficient
justice has not been done to the brave gunners,
the duke always being unfairly severe on that
arm of the service. Our heavy cavalry stood,
in hollows behind the line, right and left or
the great road in front of the farm of Mont
St. Jean, already full of the Ouatre Bras
wounded. Other troops were in reserve out of
sight of the enemy, behind our ridge, ready to
advance and fill up any gaps, and we had a
strong force in and about Braine I'AUeud, two
miles to our right, in case the French should
try to turn us there.

Crops, as at Quatre Bras, covered the valley
and ridges, and the whole plain undulated in
every direction. The battlefield to-day is full
of surprises. Sudden dips occur where the
land seems flat from a little distance ; tongues
of ground and barley-covered hillocks rise un-
expectedly as you approach them ; and it is
possible to lose sight of the entire field by a
few yards of walking in some directions ; so that,
flat as Belgium is generally considered, it is
not astonishing that the survivors of Waterloo
could only speak to events in their own
immediate vicinity-

Between nine and ten there was loud cheer-
ing, as the Duke of Wellington rode along the
line with his Staff". He wore a blue frock coat,
white cravat, and buckskin breeches, with tas-
selled Hessian boots ; a short blue cloak with
a white lining, and a low cocked hat with the
British black cockade, and three smaller ones for
Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands. He was
mounted on his favourite chestnut, Copenhagen,
a grandson of Eclipse, and carried a long
field-telescope drawn out for use.

At nine o'clock there was a movement on the
opposite side of the valley ; columns debouched
into the fields right and left of the chauszcc^ and
took up their positions as orderly as if upon
parade ; glittering files of armoured Cuirassiers
trotted through the corn, and formed behind the
infantry, lance-pennons fluttered on each flank,
and by half-past ten 61,000 French soldiers were
drawn up in battle array, their right opposite
Papelotte, their centre at La Belle Alliance,
their left wing somewhat beyond Hougoumont.

The two greatest living commanders were
about to measure swords for the first and only
time ; and as Napoleon galloped along his line,
the music of the French bands was distinctly
heard ; helmets and weapons were brandished in
the air, and a shout of '' Vive I'Empereur ! " rolled
across the field.

Blue-coated infantry formed their first ranks,
with batteries of brass cannon dotted here and
there; behind stood the heavy cavalry- with more
guns, supported, on their right, by the gay light
horse of the Guard, on the left by the heavy
cavalry of the Imperial cohort, and in rear of
the centre about the farm of Rossomme, stood
the invincible infantry of the Guard, the most
renowned body of warriors in Europe.

*****

Napoleon was unwell.

At two in the morning he had oeen re'con-
noitring, and his horses were ordered for seven ;
at ten he still sat in an upper room in an attitude
of bodily and mental suffering.

A little later he came down the steep ladder,
and as his page, Gudin, was helping him into
the saddle he lifted the Imperial elbow too
suddenly, and Napoleon pitched over on the
offside, nearly coming to the ground.

'' Allez^' he hissed, " a tons les diables ! " and
away he started in a great rage.

The page stood watching the cortege with
tearful eyes, but when it had gone some hun-
dred yards the ranks of the Staff opened, and
Napoleon came riding back alone.

WATERLOO.

With one hand placed tenderly on the lad's
shoulder he said, very softly, '* My child, when
you assist a man of my girth to mount, it is
necessary to proceed more carefully." Yet it
was of this man that Wellington could say, in
after years, " The fellow was no gentleman " !

The page became a general, and fell in a sortie

from Paris during the Franco-Prussian war.

*****

There was a lull before the storm, and the
duke went to have a final look at Hougoumont,
where, in addition to the Guards, he had posted,
in the woods and
grounds, some Nas-
sauers, Hanoverians,
and Luneberg riflemen.

These foreigners
were dissatisfied at their
position, and as Wel-
lington rode away
several bullets came
whistling after him !
" How can they ex-
pect me to win a battle
with troops like those ? "
was his only comment.

About half- past
eleven came the First
Attack !

One booming can-
non echoed dully in
the misty Sabbath
morning, and a cloud
of dark-blue skirmishers
ran forward against
Hougoumont, firing
briskly into the wood.

Puffs of white smoke
issued from the trees ; here and there a blue-
coat turned a somersault and lay still ; but the
cloud increased, and a loud rattle of musketry
was kept up on both sides, which lasted, with
short intervals, the whole day.

Our men fell back upon the buildings through
the open beech-trees, and in twenty minutes the
French supporting columns were pouring up the
hill towards the chateau grounds.

Cleeve's German batter}- opened on them,
and his first shot killed seventeen men, the guns
checking the advance and sending the column,
broken and bleeding, down the ridge again.

Our batteries on the right now began ; the
French artillery replied ; Kellermann's horse
batteries joined in, and the infernal concert was
in full blast.

' SIR THOMAS PICTON.
(From the Painting by Sir M. A. S/iee, P.R.A )

The green Lunebergers and the yellow knap-
sacks of the Hanoverians came helter-skelter
back across the orchard, but the Foot Guards
went forward at a run and drove the enemy
off.

Bull's howitzers sent a shower of 5|-inch shells
over the chateau into the wood, and as often as
the death-dealing globes fell crashing through
the branches, so often did the enemy retire in
confusion, until Jerome Bonaparte, ex-king of
Westphalia, who was in command at Hougou-
mont, brought up Foy's Division to help the
attack.

Bravely led by their
officers, the tall shakoes
and square white coat-
facings of the line regi-
ments, the dark-blue
and black gaiters of the
light infantry, pressed
through the wood
until they reached a
stiff quickset hedge,
separated by a thin strip
of apple orchard from
the long south wall,
over which peeped the
head - gear of our
Guardsmen, and in the
confusion of smoke and
skirmish the bright-red
brickwork was mis-
taken for a line of
British — you can see
to - day where the
French balls crumbled
that barrier. But soon
discovering their error,
the brave fellows struggled through the_ hedge
and rushed forward.

A line of loopholes perforated the wall about
three feet from the ground, crossed bayonets
protruded viciously from the openings, and a
hail of bullets poured forth with such ghastly
effect that in half-an-hour there were fifteen
hundred of God's creatures dead and dying on
the green grass in the orchard, and still the
others came on.

Some got as far as the loopholes, and seized
the bayonets ; others struck with their gunbutts
at the men, who, on platforms behind the wall,
fired down over the top, piling up the dead in
dreadful heaps — privates and officers, conscripts
and veterans.

From time to time our Foot Guards charged

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

rJT; "/ +■

THE FARM OF HOUGOUMONT.

over the large orchard at the east end of the
enclosed garden, and also at the south-west angle
of the farm buildings, where a haystack helped
to cover them until the French burned it; and
this repulse and attack went on, time and again,
until the evening, the enemy gaining no advan-
tage but the beechwood for all their desperate
valour.

The rest of our line had remained passive
listeners to the firing, except for a little skir-
mishing here and there, but a hurricane was
brewing and about to burst against our left and

centre.

* * # * *

La Haye Sainte was a farm, lying like Hougou-
mont in a hollow ; it was on the Brussels road,
and was built with barn and stabling round three
sides of an oblong yard, the fourth side being a
high white wall, vath a gate and a piggery
alongside the roadway.

Towards the French position stretched a long
orchard, a small garden la}- behind the house,
and a large double door opened from the yard
into the fields on the Hougoumont side, half
of which door had been burned for bivouac
fires the night previous. The 2nd Rifles of the
German Legion, dressed like our own in green
with slate-coloured pantaloons, held the post,
and held it like the heroes of old, three
companies in the orchard, two in the building,
and one in the garden. Major Baring, who had
two horses shot under him, being in command.

The post was not as strong as Hougoumont,
all the pioneers having been sent to fortify the
latter place, and the '' Green Germans " had
a very insufficient supply of ammunition ;
Wellington afterwards admitting that he had
neglected to make the most of the position there.

At I "30 p.m. Marshal Ney had gathered
seventy-four guns, mostly 12 -pounders, on a
■ridge very near to La Haye Sainte on the
French right of the road, and this was known
as the " Great Battery."

Behind the guns the whole of D'Erlon's Corps,
together with Bachelu's Division, was massed
in columns for the attack twenty regiments,
Bachelu being in reserve. Ney sent to the
Emperor to tell him all was ready, and with
an appalling cannonade on our left and centre,
they commenced the Second Attack.

When the smoke which hung about the gims
had drifted slowl}' away across the slopes we
could see four massive columns, led by the
brave Ney, pouring steadily forward straight
for our ridge.

The firing became general as we opened on
the advance : men had to shout to be audible
to their neighbours ; long lanes were ploughed
through Picton's Division, and the balls went
tearing through our cavalr\' in reserve, many of
them striking the hospital farm, and some even
travelling into the village beyond.

B^'landt's Dutch Belgians, posted in front of
the cross-road, forgot their gallantry at Ouatre

WATERLOO.

Bras, and bolted, almost running over the
Grenadiers of our 28th, who were restrained
with difficulty from firing into them. One ball
cut a tall tree into half at the hedgerow above
the sandpit, bringing the feathery top down and

taking place about two o'clock, and lasting for
more than an hour.

Durutte took Papelotte, but was driven out
again ; Alix and Marcognet breasted the rise, and
gained the ridge under a murderous discharge ;

"SOME GOT AS FAR AS THE LOOPHOLES AND SEIZED THE BAYONETS " {/. 59)-

half-smothering two doctors of the 95th, who
had stationed themselves beneath it.

Nearly 24,000 men advanced, with loud cries
and the hoarse rolling of drums, in four masses :
Durutte against Papelotte, Alix and Marcognet
in front of Kempt and Pack, Donzelot upon
the devoted Rifles in La Haye Sainte, the shock

the smell or trampled corn mingling with
the powder smoke as the Great Battery ceased
firing lest it should kill its comrades, and
with* shouts of "Vive I'Empereur ! " the two
columns hurled themselves against the steel
barrier of bayonets on the hedge-lined bank
above them.

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

Hand to hand, no quarter asked or given,
veteran and conscript came on yelling like mad,
Picton's Division meeting them in line.

Some of Marcognet's fellows crossed the Wavre
road and blazed into the 92nd ; but our men
advanced, after a withering volley, and, jumping
into the cross-road, went at them with a will.
Cameron Highlanders, 32nd and 28th, Scots
Royals, and Black Watch, Gordons and 44th,
with colours waving and courage high, over the
causeway thev rushed, into the wheat and barlev.

"Charge, charge I Hurrah ! " cried Picton, his
little black eyes sparkling, his fiorid complexion
redder with excitement — a ball struck his right
temple, he fell dead from his horse, and his men
passed over him driving the foe down hill.

A mounted French officer had his horse shot,
and getting to his feet seized the regimental
colour of the 32nd, which was nearly new.
Belcher, who carried it, grasped the silk and the
Frenchman groped for his sabre hilt, but Colour-
sergeant Switzer thrust a pike at his breast.
"Save the brave fellow!" was the cr}', but it
came too late ; a private, named Lacy, fired
point blank into him, and he fell lifeless.

Ney stood in the road beyond La Haj-e
Sainte watching Donzelot's attack on the farm,
where the " Green Germans" were forced, after
a struggle, out of the long orchard into the
buildings, and simultaneously a mass of Cuiras-
siers tore past the Hougoumont side and rode
at the ridge.

Our Household Cavalry and Ponsonby's
Heavies had walked on foot to the height over-
looking the struggle ; the trumpets rang out
" Mount,'' and swinging into their saddles
they swooped down into the thick of it. With
a clatter across the causeway, and the muffled
thunder of hoofs on the ground beyond it, the
scarlet-coated Life Guards, wearing no armour
then, and mounted on black horses, dashed past
the Wellington tree into the potato field, with
the Blues and King's Dragoon Guards, swinging,
slashing, stirrup to stirrup, to meet Kellermann's
troopers and Orconer's Cuirassiers. There was
the snort of eager horses, the creaking of leather,
the clash of sword on steel cuirass, the yell of
passion and the scream of agony ; a seething
mass of fighting-men and steeds, glinting and
gleaming, swaying this wa}^ and that way, but
always onward, jostling down the hill.

The 1st Lifes got jammed in the road beyond
the farm with a body ol Cuirassiers, on the spot
where Ney had just before been standing, volti-
geurs firing into them, on friend and foe alike !

Their Colonel, Ferrier, led eleven charges
although badly wounded by sabre and lance.

The King's Dragoons jumped their horses
over a barrier of trees which our Rifles had built
across the causeway and went thundering along
that way, while the Blues were reaping a harvest
of glory in another direction, and the 2nd Life
Guards charged to the left for a great distance
beyond the sandpit alongside the farm, where
Corporal Shaw met his fate after slaying nine
of the enemy single-handed.

After the battle men remembered this mighty
swordsman, and told in solemn voices his deeds
of derring-do. One cuirassier sat, out of the
melcc, coolly loading his carbine and picking off
our troopers, and it is believed he gave Shaw
his mortal hurt.

A survivor narrated how, exhausted at night-
fall, he had lain down on a dung-heap, when
Shaw crawled beside him, bleeding from many
wounds. Li the morning the life-guardsman
was still there, his head resting on his arm as if
asleep, but it w^as the sleep which knows no
waking.

Ponsonby's L^nion Brigade was meanwhile
making its immortal onslaught, more towards
Papelotte, the ground they went over being
billowy, and the troops before them infantry of
the line.

The Royals gave a ringing cheer ; " Scotland
for ever ! " was the war-cry of the Greys ; and
the Inniskillings went in with an Irish howl.

As they passed the Q2nd, many of the High-
landers caught hold of their stirrup-leathers and
charged down with them ; the very ground
seemed trembling under the iron hoofs ; Mar-
cognet and Alix were broken and trampled, and
in three minutes more than 2,000 prisoners
were wending their disconsolate way to the rear.

" Those beautiful grey horses ! '' said Napoleon,
as he watched the charge.

Did he see that struggle round the Eagle of
his 45th, I wonder — that famous " Battle for the
Standard " w^hich Ansdell has painted so well ?

What says Sergeant Ewart, the hero of the
incident ? '' It was in the charge I took the
Eagle from the enemy. He and I had a hard
contest for it. He made a thrust at my groin ;
I parried it off, and cut him down through the
head. After this a lancer came at me ; I threw
the lance off by my right side, and cut him
through the chin and upwards through the
teeth. Next a foot-soldier fired at me, and then
charged me with his bayonet, which I also had
the good luck to parr^', and then I cut him

Sergeant Evvart i.apiuiing me Eagle at Waterloo c/. fj).
{Fiom a ranting by W. B. IVoihn, R.r.\

-ilP^

WATERLOO.

6.-^

down through the head. Thus ended the
contest.''

Captain Clarke and Corporal Styles, of the
Royals, took an Eagle from the 105th between
them — a glorious gilded thing, embroidered
with tjie names of Jena, Eylau, Eckmiihl, Essling,
and Wagram — the gallant captain losing the tip
of his nose in the struggle.

A man of the Inniskillings named Penfold
claimed to have taken that colour ; but his story
is vague, and I incline to think that a blue silk
camp -colour of the 105th, now at Abbotsford,
was the one that Penfold seized and afterwards
lost in the fray.

Sir William Ponsonby led the charge on a
restive bay hack, and was killed ; while some of
the Greys got as far as the Great Battery, dis-
abling many of the guns, and getting slain in
the end.

Part of the 28th lost its head, and charged with
the brigade ; Lieutenant Deares of that regiment
being taken prisoner, stripped of his clothes,
rejoining at night in nothing but shirt and
trousers.

Tathwell, of the Blues, tore off a colour, but
his horse was shot and he lost it ; and the
greater part of the two brigades rode along the
battery until heavy bodies of Cuirassiers and
Lancers came to drive them back.

Vandeleur charged to their relief with his
Light Dragoons — the 12th with bright yellow
lancer facings, the i6th with scarlet, the buff
nth remaining in reserve.

" Squadrons, right half-wheel I Charge ! " and
the sabres of our light horsemen were soon busy
in the valley below. The ground was very soft, for
a month after the battle some of the holes made
by horses' feet were measured, and found to be
eighteen inches deep, and in speaking of artillery
movements it must be remembered that the guns
were at times up to the axle in clay.

The heavy cavalry regained our position ; but
so much had they suffered that, later in the day,
when they were drawn up in lire to show a bold
front, there were only fifty of them ; Somerset,
who led the " Households," losing his hat, and
wearing the helmet of a life-guardsman, with
its red and blue worsted crest, until nightfall.

The attack had failed, and there was a long
pause, broken only by the firing at Hougoumont
and some feeble attempts on La Haye Sainte ;
but it was now the turn of our troops in the
centre, from the chatissec to the back of the
chateau ; and a terrible time they had !

A renewal of the cannonade — a forming of

our regiments into squares and oblongs — and
then the grandest cavalry affair in history, as
forty squadrons of Cuirassiers and Dragoons
crossed from the French right in beautiful order,
wheeled up until they almost filled the space
from Hougoumont to La Haye Sainte, and, about
four o'clock, put spurs to their horses and began
the Third Attack !

A forest of sword-blades, an undulating sea of
helmets, a roar of mighty shouting as they came
through the yet untrampled grain.

Wave after wave, far as the eye could scan,
now glinting with thousands of bright points
as the sullen sun shone for a moment upon
them, now grey and sombre as the clouds closed
together again. Nearer ! nearer ! nearer ! Men
clutched their muskets tighter and breathed
hard ; gunners rammed home and hastened to
re-load before the smoke had drifted from the
cannon.

Suddenly they left their guns, and ran to the
infantry for protection as the sea burst upon us,
and our ridge became alive with furious horse-
men, surging and foaming round and round the
squares. There were many who thought that all
was over, but the little clumps of scarlet fringed
with steel were impenetrable.

\xi vain the moustached troopers cut desper-
ately at the bayonets ; in vain they rode up and
fired their pistols into the faces of our lads. For
three-quarters of an hour they expended their
strength in a hopeless task ; and when our fresh
cavalry from Dornberg's and Grant's Brigades
charged them, they went down the slope again,
leaving the ground dotted with dead and dying.

A moment's respite to re-form in the hollows
below, and back they came once more, in the
face of a fearful fire from our artillery, whose
guns were double-shotted — some loaded with
scattering grape and canister. Lanes, sickening
to behold, were torn through the squadrons ;
but Milhaud's men were not to be daunted, and
the same strange scene was repeated many times.

A small body of Cuirassiers that had surren-
dered was being escorted to the rear by a weak
party of the 7 th Hussars, when they made a bold
dash for liberty along the Nivelle road, stamped-
ing, ventre a terre, until they reached the ahattis
at the end of tl:e Hougoumont avenue.

Here they met Ross's company of the 51st,
who killed eight men and twelve horses, the
rest— about sixty — surrendering again.

One artilleryman was seen, under his gun,
dodging a French trooper, who tried to reach
him with his long sword.

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

After some moments the cuirassier's horse
was shot, and the gunner, sallying out, hit him
over the head with his rammer, and packed him
off to the rear with a parting kick.

The ridge was once more cleared, and

was constant firing still at Hougoumont and La
Haye Sainte, when the trumpets sounded again,
and with scvcnty-scvcn squadrons, including the
cavalry of the Guard, France returned to the
charge. Every arm of the mounted service was

represented in this
attack, the beauty
and brilliancy of
the uniforms baf-
fling description.
Carabiniers. white-
coated, with brass
cuirasses and red-
crested helmets ;
Lancers, Dragoons,
and Chasseurs in
.green, with facings
of every hue ; the
Red Lancers of the

DEFENCE OF LA HAVE SAINTE BY THE GERMAN
LEGION {/. 66).

Mercer's battery brought into the front line. The
whole field was now littered with corpses and
accoutrements. Gaily-dressed trumpeters, and
officers on whose breasts hung crosses of the
Legion of Honour, lay bleeding in the barley
among hundreds of dead and wounded horses.
Here a lancer in green and light blue, there a
heap of cuirassiers of the ist Regiment, mown
down by grape shot ; yonder a chasseur -a-chcv al ^
propped against his charger, while swords and
cuirasses were almost as numerous as the stalks
of corn.

All the slope was torn and trampled ; flies
were busy in the now loathsome hollows ; there

Guard, clad in scarlet
from head to heel, and
Napoleon's own favourite

Chasseur s-a-cheval, wdth hussar caps and red
pelisses, richly braided with orange k.ce ; tall
bearskinned Horse Grenadiers, with white facings
to their blue coats ; the Cuirassiers, dark and
sombre looking ; the high felt shakoes of the
Hussars— it was as though a flower garden in all
its summer dress were moving at a slow trot
upon us, heralded by the thunder of hell from
the batteries behind it.

WATERLOO.

When the thunder stopped, which it ahvays did
as the leading files reached the crest of the ridge,
our men could hear in the momentary intervals of
their own firing the jingling of bits and scabbards,
and the heavy breathing of the horses. Mounted
skirmishers came close to the batteries and com-
menced firing at the gunners, who were literally
dripping with perspiration from the exertions
they made. One fellow took several pot-shots
at Captain Mercer, who was coolly walking his
horse backwards and forwards along a bank to
set an example to his men. He missed each
time, and grinned grimly as he reloaded, but as
the head of the
squadrons closed
up the skirmish-
ers vanished and
were succeeded
by the rush which
threatened death
to every soul on
the plateau. Wel-
lington's orders
were to retire
into the squares
and leave the
batteries, but

Mercer's men
stuck to their
guns, repulsing"
three charges of
the Horse Grena-
diers, and dealing
such slaughter
that the position

of " G Troop '' was known next day by the
enormous heap of slain lying before it, visible
from a considerable distance.

The carnage on the slope was shocking — the
oldest soldiers had seen nothing like it : men
and horses lay piled one on another, five and six
in a heap, every fresh discharge adding to the
ghastly pyramid. The ist Cuirassiers numbered
300 of the Legion of Honour in its ranks — it
lost 117, including two lieutenants and the brave
Captain Poinsot, page to the Emperor in 1807,
wounded at Moscow and Brienne. One officer,
finding the fire from a particular gun playing
havoc with his men, rode straight at it and was
blown to atoms.

The horses during the battle suffered cruelly,
and some of the details are heartrending : the
charger of a very stout officer with the Duke's
staff, probably Muffling, was seen to rear for
some time without the rider being able to bring

it down—its front legs had been both shot off.
Another trooper's horse was seen next morning
sitting on its tail, its hind legs gone ; and one
poor beast ran for sympathy to six guns in
succession, and was driven off from each with
exclamations of horror until it reached '' G
Troop," where they mercifully killed it : the
whole of its face below the great brown pleading
eyes had been carried away by a round shot !

After a repulse and a re-attack, the remnant
of the seventy-seven squadrons reeled back to
their own lines : the cavalry of France, magni-
ficent, irresistible, brave as lions, and nobly led.

had shattered
itselt without re-
sult, and the third
great attempt had
failed !

* » • •

All the after-
noon there had
been great doings
at Hougoumont.
About one

o'clock Colonel
Hepburn had re-
lieved Saltoun in
the large orchard
with a battalion
of the 3rd — now
the Scots Guards
— and the com-
bat on that side
became a long
succession of ad-
vances with the bajonet to the ft-ont hedge and
retirings into a green dry ditch, which is known
to us as the " friendh hollow-way." When our
men fell back, a terrific fire from the short east
wall would stagger the foe, and the Scots,
having formed again, would scramble out of the
hollow and clear the orchard of all but the dead.
Along the terrible south wall a staff-officer,
who had been through all the Peninsula battles,
afterwards said that the slain lay thicker than he
had ever seen them elsewhere.

The chateau and barns were now burning
furiously, fired by Haxo's howitzers at Napo-
leon's orders, and many of our wounded perished
in the flames ; some officers' horses tore out of
the barn, galloped madly round the yard, and
rushed into the fire again to be destroyed.

Twice the enemy got in : once by a little
door in the west wall, through which they never
got out alive ; and the second time, when our

A GALLANT ARTILLERY DRIVER RUSHED HIS HORSES TO THE
wall" (/. 66).

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

Guardsmen had sallied out into the lane to drive
off a body of infantry, about fifty French entered
on their heels through the north gate. Then,
by main strength of arm, Colonel Macdoncll,
Sergeant Graham, and three or four more,
shut and barred the wooden gate in the faces
of the others, and those inside were all shot
down.

A brave fellow climbed on to the beam that
crossed the gatewa}- ; but Graham fired, and he
dropped with a scream on to the heads of his
comrades outside the wall.

The fire stopped at the door of the chateau
chapel, which was full of wounded, and a wooden
figure of our Saviour had the feet nibbled by
the flames, at which the superstitious marvel
greatly to this day.

Columns of smoke hung over everything. A
gallant artillery driver rushed his horses to the
wall, and flung a barrel of welcome cartridges
over into the yard. At the corner, before the
gardener's house, Baron de Cubieres lay wounded
under his horse ; afterwards, when Governor of
Ancona, he expressed himself very grateful that
we had not fired on him !

Crawford of the 3rd Guards was killed in the
kitchen garden, Blackman of the Coldstreams
died in the orchard ; but the attack and repulse
grew gradually weaker, as both sides tired of
the hideous slaughter.

Meanwhile, a serious trouble which had been
menacing" the Emperor on his right flank for
some time at last grew terriblv" imminent.

The Prussians were coming in spite of Grouchy,
who had been sent in their pursuit.

They should have arrived about one o'clock ;
but, thanks to the bad roads, a fire in the town
of Wavre, which had to be extinguished before
the ammunition-waggons could be got through,
and some hesitation on the part of Gneisenau,
Bliicher's Chief of Staff, who doubted Welling-
ton's good faith, it was half -past four when
part of Billow's corps came out of the woods
at St. Lambert and confirmed Napoleon's pre-
. viously awakened fears.

In the hazy weather thev thought it was
Grouchy, and a false report was afterwards sent
through the French army to cheer the wearied
m.en ; but the Emperor and Soult knew other-
wise, and the line of battle was weakened by a
strong force being detached to meet the new
arrivals.

There was no time to be lost ; drums rolled
and trumpets sounded again, and the last rem-
nants of the cavalry had not regained their

position when the Fourth Grand Attack began
with a fury that even exceeded the others.

While fresh bodies of horse and foot advanced
up the ridge, a most determined rush was made
on La Haye Sainte. Baring had been reinforced,
it is true ; but, although he sent time after time
for more ammunition, not a single cartridge was
forthcoming [

A feeble excuse has been made that there were
no means of getting it into the building ; but li
large door and several windows faced our line at
the back of the house then, as now. They may
still be seen by the visitor to Waterloo.

A horde of French infantry flung themselves
on the buildings, setting the barn on fire, and
besieging the broken gateway.

While the brave Germans filled their camp-
kettles from the pond and extinguished the
flames, others, with their bayonets only, kept
the door leading into the field. Seventeen corpses
they piled up there in a few minutes, one gallant
fellow defending a breach with a brick torn
from the wall ! The individual acts of heroism
on authentic record would fill many pages :
but, without ammunition, they were at a fearful
disadvantage.

The voltigeurs climbed on to the roof of the
stable, and shot them down at their ease : the
half barn-door is preserved to the present day,
with eighty bullet-holes in it ! Alten sent the
brave Christian Ompteda to their aid, if prac-
ticable, with the 5th Battalion. He pointed to
an overwhelming force ; but the irrepressible
Orange repeated Alten's suggestion in a tone
that brooked no delay, and Ompteda went down
with his 5th Battalion, and they died, almost to
a man I

Baring dismounted to pick up his cap, knocked
off by a shot ; four balls had lodged in the
cloak rolled on his saddle-bow, and a fifth then
pierced the saddle itself, while the Scotch Lieu-
tenant Graeme, sitting on the rafters of the
piggery, in which a calf was lowing, raised his
shako to cheer his men, and his right hand
^vas taken off at the wrist. He was only
eighteen.

It was hopeless. " If I receive no cartridges,'*
said Baring in his last appeal, " I not only must,
but will abandon the post ! " And very soon
those neglected heroes retreated slowly through
the house and out through the garden beyond,
the French, bursting into the yard, chasing the
remnant round and round and bayoneting them
on the dungheaps.

A roar of cheering rang above the battle.

WATERLOO.

At last they were victorious, and the French had
taken La Haye Sainte.

Without a moment's hesitation their conquest
was turned to the best possible advantage.
Smart red-braided Horse Artillery galloped down
the causeway, dragging their guns to the knoll
above the sandpit, from which our Q5th had
been driven, and, unlimbering, opened fire at
sz'xtv yards range on to our line.

Skirmishers filled the hedgerows and the farm
buildings. The Great Battery renewed its work
of death, and in a few moments there was a
serious gap in the centre of our position.

Lambert's brigade had been brought up before
this, and suffered terribly.

The 27th, which had lain down and slept
soundly behind Mont St. Jean until after three
o'clock, lost 478 out of 698 in its new quarters ;
and the 40th thirteen officers and 180 rank
and file, one round shot taking off the head of
Captain Fisher and killing twenty-five men.

Ompteda's brigade mustered a mere handful,
Kielmansegge was almost destroyed, Halkett
had two weak squares, one of his regiments
being very shaky indeed, and, altogether, things
were unpleasant when the Duke came up with
reinforcements to patch our front as best he could.
Far off on our right Chasse's Dutch Belgians
had arrived, shouting and singing, from Braine
I'Alleud, very drtmk^ narrowly escaping a volley
from us, as they wore the French uniform ; and
at this time, by reason of the bolting of Hake's
Cumberland Hussars and some of our supports,
with the enormous losses from the six hours of
carnage, the British affairs were in bad case.

Halkett's 30th and 73rd in square had been
charged no less than eleven times : the Duke
pointed to a scarlet mass in front through the
smoke, and inquired what regiment it was. It
was the dead and wounded of those two corps,
huddled together where they had fallen.

The green-faced 73rd was at one time com-
manded by Lieutenant Stewart, all the other
officers having been killed or wounded ; and at
half-past seven the colours of both regiments
were sent to the rear.

The 2nd Line Battalion of the German Legion
went into action with 300 men, but mustered
only six officers and thirty-six privates after the
battle ; but Blucher was now nearing the French
right rear with nearly 52,000 troops and 104
guns, and the Emperor was obliged to send
General Duhesme with eight battalions of the
young Guard down into the straggling village
of Planchenoit to help to check them.

He had been at La Belle Alliance all day, and
Prussian shot were now falling about him.

Marshal Ney sent for more infantry to renew
the attack. " Ou voulez vous que j'en prenne :
voulez vous que j'en fasse .^ " was the Emperor's
impatient reply—" Where can I get them : do
you wish me to make them ? "

The long June day was drawing into evening,
and shadows began to lengthen across the fields!
Wellington, who had always been seen where
the fire was hottest, rode with a calm, inscrutable
face, followed by a sadly diminished staff,, his
eagle eye taking note of the strength and
weakness of our line.

The Hussars had been moved in rear of the
centre ; and Adams' Brigade took position imme-
diately behind the ridge. In front of the clover
field where the 52nd stood in square, a pretty
little tortoiseshell kitten, which had been fright-
ened out of Hougoumont by the firing, lay dead
— a strange feature in the scene of destruction.

The men were growing accustomed to the
hideous sights and sounds around them, and
became impatient at the inactivity which
doomed them to endure without reprisal.
Suddenly the brass guns blazed forth once
more upon us ; the pas dc charge was rolling
from a thousand drums ; a serried line was seen
advancing along our entire front, and, led by
the Emperor himself, on his grey charger Marie,
his famous redingote gris open and showing
the well-known dark-green chasseur coat, the
Grenadiers of the Guard marched in . solid
columns into the vallev.

Two winding serpents of determined men ;
ten battalions in tall black bearskins, white
facings and dark-blue pantaloon.s — that was their
dress at Waterloo — with Friant and Mor:\nd,
Petit, whom Napoleon had kissed at Fontaine-
bleau, Poret de Morvan, and old Cambronne.
The elite of the French army, the Grenadiers and
Chasseurs of the Old and Middle Guard, marching
sternly to victory or death. Marcognet, Alix,
and Donzelot, with their remnants, against our
reeling left ; Reille, Foy, and Jerome renew-
ing on Hougoumont — cavalry in the gaps and
spaces — a simultaneous, mighty last attack !

The yet unbroken Imperial Guard set their
faces towards the spot where Maitland's, Adams'
and Bj-ng's red-coats looked to their priming
and closed their ranks : had Napoleon hurled
them against the cross road behind. La Haye
Sainte, the story of Waterloo had been written
differently.

He missed his chance ; he threw away h^s

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

final hope. The greatest of his man\- mistakes
was committed, and, handing over the leadership
to Ney, he remained on a hillock above the
farm, and watched the downfall of France and
the death-blow of his empire ! For the last
time in this world their Emperor addressed
them, pointing towards the heights with a
gesture all could understand.

'"'■ Deploy ez Ics aigles. En avant ! Tire
V Empereiir r' and with a great shout thev
quickened their pace, passing proudly, un-
heeding, over the bodies of those comrades
who had gone before.

Red tongues of flame burst from the smoke
of our guns ;
whiz came the
lier}- rockets,
darting into
their ranks,
scorching,
blinding, and
burning in
their course ;
humming
shells dropped
among them
with terrible
desLiuction ;
but the Old
Guard pressed
on, and began
to mount the
ridge.

Ney's horse
fell— the fifth

killed under him that day, and the " bravest of
the brave," went forward on foot. Alas, would
that it had been to death !

Our Guards were lying down to avoid the
hurricane from the French artiller}'. A shell
dropped in one of the squares, and Colonel
Colquitt, picking it up, fizzing and fuming,
walked to the edge and flung it outside to burst
harmlessly. Another officer, mortally wounded,
said faintly :

'' I should like to see the colours of the regi-
ment again before I quit them for ever " : they
were brought and waved round his body, and
with a smile, he was carried away, to die.

It was men like those that the oncoming
columns had to face, and batteries as famous as
those of Bull and Bolton, of Norman Ramsay,
Whinyates, and Webber Smith, with guns
double shotted and served as on parade ; no
need to sight so caiefullv. for the moving

L\ HAVE SAlNiE.

target is a wide one, and they hit in e\ei >
tmie :

Now the skirmishers run out, shouting and
firing as before, and when they have said their
say, thev fall back leaving all clear for the
others ; but the columns seem to get no nearer,
though they are marching steadily ; front rank
after front rank is blown to shreds — that is why
they appear stationary !

The gunners have done their wcik ; the
guns recoil, and are left there : it is the turn
of the infantry now, and the time has come
for that historic signal, " Up, Guards, and
at 'em ! " which in realitv was never said.

But what-
ever the word
was, they do
"up," and
they do " at
'em " ; and
again it is
bayonet to
bavonet, and
man to man.

One Welsh
giant, named
Hughes, six
feet seven
inches in
height, is seen
to knock over
a dozen of the
Old Guard
single handed ;
• the red-coats

and the blue-coats mingle for a moment and
the blue-coats melt awa^-.

The second column, a little behind the other,
is in good order : it has suffered less from the
cannonade, and is full of fire and fury ; but' so
also are our 52nd lads, who advance down the
slope with three tremendous cheers.

Colborne is leading, and when they get abreast
of the column he cries —
" Halt ! Mark time ! "

The men touch in to their left, and regain their
dressing ; Colborne's horse is shot, and he
comes forward wiping his mouth with a white
handkerchief, still wearing Ensign Leeke's blue
boat-cloak.

'' Right shoulders forward ! "
The regiment swings round, and, four deep,
faces the column's flank two hundred 3'ards
away.

"Forward, 52nd — charge I " and the Foot

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

Guards, who are back'onthe ridge again, behold
a noble spectacle.

The crash is terrific ; the Imperial phalanx is
taken in flaillv The contest is fierce, but it is
soon over.

Brave Michel, in response '.to our officers, re-
plies with g\orious^cs/>n't de corps, " The Guard
dies, and never surrenders!'' his, words in--
stantly fulfilled, as he falls lifeless, swor,:! in
hand, while Cambroiine, grown old in the
service (to whom these words have been falsely
attributed), gives up his weapon to William
Halkett.

Halkett's horse is shot, and Cambronne
hastens away, but his captor is too .quick for
him, and seizing his gold aiguillette, hands him
to a sergeant to be taken care of.

On presses the 52nd. driving the broken Guard
before it : it is a sight probably never repeated
in history — one .regiment traversing the field
alone, in sight of. the army; sending the foe
like sheep into the • hollow ; dispersing and
pushing them relentlessly back, until they turn
and fly, and other corps make haste to join in
that glorious progress.

There is a movement along the ridge as
the setting sun "shines out in a burst of sink-
ing splendour, and the Duke, with cocked hat
raised above his head, gives the magic word,
" The whole line will advance ! " and then spurs
down after the 52nd.

On the rising ground near La Haye Sainte,
Napoleon sits on horseback, close to a small
battalion which has formed square.

Jerome, his brother, bleeding and exhausted,
is with him, with honest old Drouot in his
artillery uniform, in the pocket of which is a
well-worn Bible ; Soult and Gourgaud, Bertrand
and brave young La Bedoyere are there, too :
but the English Hussars are coming on at a
fast trot.

All day long the waves of valour have been
rolling northward, and breaking against an iron-
bound shore ; now the tide has turned, and
rushes madly south again.

Nothing but confusion meets the eye : every-
where the French are in full retreat — solitary
men, groups of three and four, ruined regiments,
and the skeletons of squadrons.

Jerome rides close to his brother, and says in
?. meaning tone —

" It were well for all who bear the name of
Bonaparte to perish here ! "

Napoleon orders some guns to open on the
Hussars, and one shot hits Lord Uxbridge on the

right knee as,, mounted on a troop horse be-
longing to a sergeant-major of the 23rd Light
Dragoons, he is leading the pursuit.

" Here we must die on the field of battle," ex-
claims the Emperor, preparing to head the weak
column,; but Soult seizes his bridle, saying,
" They will not kill 3-ou : you will be taken
prisoner"'; and, held up in the saddle by two
faithful officers, for he is worn out. Napoleon
is galloped away in the gathering darkness.

On the left of the Brussels road some Prussiar.
guns had come up and fired on our men.

They were the sole representatives ofBliicher'i
force present before Mont St. Jean until nfte,
the retreat had begun ; and they had been
far better absent, as their pounding was cruelly
felt by Mercer's battery and several of our
regiments.

They were induced, after some time, to change
the direction of their range, and then all went
well. The 52nd still pursued its march, halting
for a moment near La Haye Sainte to face and
charge some rallying squares, where a Belgian
soldier was seen killing a wounded Frenchman,
and was run through by an officer of the
regiment.

Leeke, who carried the King's colour, foun;.
a foot and a half of the pole wet with blood ;
Holman, the brother of the blind traveller, h^J
three musket balls through his sword blade, ar^d
wore it for many 3-ears ; Colborne and Major
Rowan, being both (Jismounced, jumped on tc
two horses attached to an abandoned gun, call-
ing to their men to cut the liai-ness ; but the
advance continuing, they had to dismount with
a hearty laugh and march on again on foot.

It was getting dark, and our Hussars were
clearing the field in splendid style, the loth.
whose sabres were soon red as their scarlet cuflfs,
engaging with some strong remnants of the Old
Guard and losing two officers.

Major Murray, of the dashing i8th, met a gun
going at full speed, and leaped his charger over
the traces, between the leaders and wheelers,
while his men proceeded to cut the gunners
down.

Colquhoun Grant, who had lost five horses
and was then mounted on a magnificent chest-
nut, sent the gallant remains of his brigade at
the retreating foe ; and until it was impossible
an}' longer to pick one's way among the vast
heaps of dead, disabled cannon, and miserable
wounded — in short, the absolute wreck of an
army — our light cavalry went wheeling and

WATERLOO.

slashing right and left, hurrying on the veteran,*
the conscript, the artillery driver and the officer
alike, all the French accounts doing justice to
these light horsemen. It is only in private
letters, hardly in the official documents, that
England can learn the heroism of her Hussars
at Waterloo.

Meanwhile the 52nd had crossed to the left of
the road and scattered a column debouching
from Planchenoit, behind the buildings of La
Belle Alliance," in front of which a mass of guns
had been left to .their fate. The regiment passed
on, and on its return found them marked with the
numbers of other corps that had succeeded them.

All the causeway was crammed with flying
troops : a terrible struggle for liberty took place, ,
in which discipline gave way to terror. General
officer and baggage waggon fled side by side ;
rifles and accoutrements were thrown away
that their owners might hurry faster. The
fields, the by-lanes, the woods, were all filled
with fugitives — even the Emperor had to turn
aside in order to get past.

Marshal Ney was one of the last to go. He
had joined the army on the 15th, without
money, without horses, almost without a uni-
form. He was to be found everywhere on
that dreadful i8th, planting batteries, heading
charges, rallying, raging, facing death at every
stride, and when it was over he tottered ex-
hausted away on foot, leaning on the shoulder
of a compassionate corporal.

Now the Prussians have arrived in force.
Planchenoit, its churchyard and crooked street.
Its orchards and barnyards, are full of French
and Prussian slain.

The 3'oung Guard fought well, but they were
outnumbered, and Blucher rides into the
chaiissee at La Belle Alliance.

A Uhlan band plays " God Save the King,"
and farther along the road they meet the Duke
returning on his way in the dark to write his
despatches announcing the victory.

The two soldiers embrace, and sit talking for
ten minutes while the stream goes hurrying
by. Then the fiery old German follows up
the retreat with a fury that is incredible.

At Genappe the Silesians have taken the
Emperor's baggage ; Gneisenau mounts a
drummer on one of the cream-coloured carriage
horses, and away they go into the darkness after
the fugitives, driving them from seven bivouacs,
slaving, hacking, giving no rest, until the land
is strewn for leagues with dead men, fallen under
the Prussian steel.

Merciless^it may seern to' us; • looking back •
with fourscore years between us and that
moonlit night ; but such was the vitality of
the French that the most drastic steps were
necessar}- to prevent their army mustering again.
******

What can I say of the battle-field, after the
pursuit had rolled away, and it was left to the
searcher and the pkmderer ?

If I could re-create one tithe of the horror
those slopes and roads revealed you would f.
sicken and turn away in disgust.

Prussian,- Belgian, and British, there were,
out on the plain that night, bent on no errand i.
of mercy ; stragglers and camp - followers .
creeping from group to group, tearing the
rings from the fingers, and the teeth from the
jaws !

Many a life was foully taken that tender
nursing might have saved ; but there were some
groups who sought for a lost comrade or a
favourite officer, and women there were, with
woman's gentle sympathy, soothing and tending
as only they can soothe.

The bulk of the British force had gone to
bivouac beyond and about RosQmm.e, which
was behind the French position ; but some
detached portions remained where they had
fought, too weary to advance with the others.

Mercer was one of these, and creeping under
the cover of a waggon, worn out with slaughter,
he slept — waking to find a dead man stark and
stiff beneath him ! His men came to him in
the morning, and asked permission to bury one
of their comrades.

" Why him in particular? " asked the captain,
for many a bearskin-crested helmet was empty in
"G Troop."

Then they showed him the horror of it.

The whole of the man's head had been carried
away, leaving the fleshy mask of what had
been a face, from which the e\-es were still
staring wildl}-.

" We have not slept a wink, sir," they said.
" Those eves have haunted us all night ! "

With daybreak men stood aghast at the
spectacle of that battle-ground.

The losses have never been satisfactorily
reckoned ; but I have seen it stated, curiously,
that of the red-coats q,999 were actually killed
there. The French loss for the four days'
campaign has been counted as 50,000 ; and you
can tell off the survivors of both armies to-day,
perhaps, on the fingers of one hand.

Everv house in the neighbourhood was full of

bA ilLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

wounded. For three days, the doctors tell
us, they were being brought in by the
search parties, a sharp frost having con-
gealed the wounds of many and so saved
them, ai;d lines of carts jolted the shrieking
wretches over that dreadful causeway to
Brussels in endless succession.

At Hougoumont, where the orange-trees
were in blossom, they flung three hundred
bodies down a well : it was a simple
method, saving time and trouble ; but a
dark tradition lingers that voices were
heard afterwards, faintly imploring, from
the cavernous depths.

Wild strawberries hung their red clusters,
and the little, blue forget-me-not peeped in the
woods ; birds of prey came croaking on the
wing ; and within twenty - four hours ten
thousand horses had been flayed by the Flemish
peasants, many of whom made fortunes by
plunder !

Men gathered jewelled decorations and crosses
by handfuls : it was impossible to take three
strides without treading on a sword, a broken
musket, a carbine, or a corpse !

Near La Haye Sainte they found a pretty
French girl in hussar uniform, and the farm
itself was encrusted with blood ; tufts of hair
adhered to the doorways, the yard presenting
a sight never to be forgotten. A pole to
which a scrap of torn silk clung was picked up
under the body of Ensign Nettles : it was the
King's colour.

The remains of three French brothers named
Angelet were among the slain, and the historv
of one v.-as most romantic. Wounded in some

■^■%^'¥k{j]^

of the Napoleonic wars, where he had lost a leg,
he was taunted by a lady with the fact that he
could only talk of what he /lad done for France
— that he could do no more. The brave fellow
seized his crutches, limped after the army, and
met his fate at Waterloo.

Picton's body — wounded at Ouatre Bras,
though none but his valet knew it — was
taken to England, and by a strange coincidence
was laid, at the Fountain Inn, Canterbury,
on the very table at which he had dined.
a fortnight before, on his way to join the
arm}-.

Byng of the Guards said to Sir John Colborne
in Paris : " How do your fellows like our getting
the credit of what you did at Waterloo ? I could
not advance because our ammunition was all
done."

The Foot Guards got their bearskins as a well-
merited reward, only the Grenadier companies
wearing them during the battle. The 52nd.
for their great share in the closing scene,
received — nothing ! and the Duke, when

WATERLOO.

approached on the subject of that glaring
injustice, said, '' Oh, I know nothing of the
services of particular regiments. There was
glory enough for all ! "

They are nearly all gathered to the " land
o' the leal " now. The last of Hougoumont's
defenders — Von Trovich of the Nassauers — died
in 1882 ; Albemarle, who fought with the 14th
Foot, passed away quite recently ; while the
Guards turned out to bury a veteran not
long since who paraded for the last time in
Caterham workhouse 1 In 1894 John Stace\%
aged ninety-six^ of the German Legion, walked

from Yorkshire to London to see if his tcupcncc
a day might not be increased.

For thirty years you could mark, by the deeper
colour of the corn, where they had buried the
dead in greatest numbers : they still find buttons
in the plough-land after rain, with bullets cut in
half against our sword-blades, and sometimes
bones ! Ten thousand people, on an average,
visit the field each year ; and, though the land
lies dozing under its wealth of crops, and the
lark trills his requiem where the guns once
thundered, and the herdboy's song rises in place
of " Vive I'Empereur ! "—never will the nations
forget that fearful Sunday or the names of
Wellington and Waterloo.

MARSHAL rLuCKF.R.
' After Sir Thomas Law.tMC. PR A.'^

Emperor' _^

Francis JoszphjMuftna

NOT since the " Volkerschlacht," or Ar-
mageddon of the nations at Leipzig,
in 1 8 13, when the aUies overthrew
the hosts of Napoleon, had Europe
witnessed such a stupendous conflict as was
fought near Koniggratz, on the Upper Elbe,
in Bohemia, on the 3rd July, 1866. This battle
was called of Koniggratz by the Prussians, • of
Sadowa by the Austrians ; and, as a matter of
topographical fact, the latter was the more
correct title, just as the field of Waterloo is
known as Mont Saint Jean to the French, and
Belle Alliance to the Prussians — in both cases
with more justice. At Leipzig about 430,000
men had mingled in fight, while at Koniggratz,
as we shall call it in compliment to our ancient
and honoured allies the Prussians, the total
number of combatants was about 435,000, or
close on half a million of men.

What had called these armed hosts into the
field ? Briefly put, it was the question which
was to be the leading Power among the Ger-
man-speaking peoples — Austria or Prussia. For
centuries the former had asserted this position
of proud pre-eminence, but there came a time
when this claim of the Hapsburgs was no longer
allowed by the great and growing monarchy of
the Hohenzollerns. Austria wanted to have
everything in Germany done after her particular
way of thinking, and Prussia began to find it
quite incompatible with her honour and her
self-respect to be thus lorded over by a State
vv^hich in many respects she deemed to be her
inferior in point of light and leading. Thus it
came to pass that these two rival Powers began
to lead a verv cat-and-dog life at the council-
board of the Germanic Confederation of States ;
and Bismarck, who was the rising statesman of
his time, prophesied that this condition of things
could go on no longer, and that the only remedy

for this eternal quarrelling between the two
was a policy of " blood and iron " on the part
of Prussia.

Once, however, they seemed to have sud-
denly become the best of friends. This was
when they joined their forces, in 1864, to snatch
Schleswig-Holstein, or the Elbe Duchies, as they
were -called, from the rule of the Danes. Bis-
marck was the great champion of " Germany for
the Germans," and he thought it scandalous and
unreasonable that a foreign people like the Danes
should continue to domineer over the Teutons
in the • Elbe Duchies. Prussia and Austria,
therefore, at his far-seeing instigation, combined
to oust the Danes from the Duchies, and this
they finally did after storming the Danish
redoubts at Diippel.

But the worst of it was that the conquerors
could not agree as to their spoil. Prussia wanted
to do one thing with the Duchies, and Austria
another. It is a common enough thing for
thieves to fall out over the distribution of their
booty, and this was precisely what the rival
German Powers did with regard to Schleswig-
Holstein. Bismarck, the long-headed statesman
that he was, clearly foresaw that they must and
would do so, and this was the very thing he
wanted. He wished to have a good pretext for
going to war with Austria, in order that this
Power might be altogether excluded from the
German family of nations, and that Prussia,
taking her place, might inaugurate a new and
better era for the Teutonic peoples. Austria
had fallen into the trap which he had laid for
her, and she had no choice but to fight. Each,
of course, claimed to be the injured party, and
the old game of the wolf and the lamb was
played over again to the amusement of all
Europe. Some of the other German States
sided with Austria, and some with Prussia, but

KONIGGRATZ.

the former were soon defeated and disarmed/
and then Prussia was free to direct her whole
strength against the Austrians.

It was known that the latter \Vere collecting
all their strength in Bohemia, and King William,,
who had General von Moltke, the greatest soldier
of his time, for his Chief of the Staff, or principal
counsellor in affairs of war, resolved to make
a dash into this province before its Austrian de-
fenders knew where they were, and smite them,
as David did the Philistines, hip and thigh.
Accordingly, he divided the forces of his king-
dom into three main armies, each composed of
several Army Corps. The command of the First,
or centre, Army, numbering about 03,000, was
entrusted to the King's nephew, Prince Frederick
Charles, called by his soldiers the " Red Prince,"
from the scarlet uniform of the Zieten Hussars
which he generally wore; the Second, or left-:
hand Army, totalling 100,000 men, was given
to the King's high-souled and chivalrous son,
the Crown Prince, Queen Victoria's son-in-law ;
while the Third, or right-hand host, called of
the Elbe, fell to General Herwarth von Bitten-
feld, who fought throughout the campaign with
a courage worthy of " Hereward, the last of the
English.'' But these three huge armies did not
invade Bohemia in one overwhelming mass.
Moltke, the great " battle-thinker," the " Silent
One in Seven Languages," as his friends fondly
called him, knew a trick worth two of that.
His maxim was, " march separately, strike com-
bined"; and yet it behoved him to keep the
Austrians in perfect ignorance of where he
meant to strike. The Crown Prince, on the left,
started with his army from Silesia ; the Red
Prince set out from Lusatia, while Herwarth's
point of departure was Thuringia.

Did Moltke himself also take the field ? No,
not at once ; for it meanwhile sufficed this great
militarj' chess-player, this mathematical planner
of victory, to sit quietly among his maps and
papers at the offices of the Grand General Staff
in Berlin, with his hand on the telegraph wire,
and direct the movements of the three armies of
invasion. Take the following description that
was penned by an English witness of the crossing
of the frontier by the army of the Red Prince : —
" It was here " (at a toll-house gate) '' that Prince
Frederick Charles took his stand to watch his
troops march over the border. He had hardly
arrived there before he gave the necessary orders,
r and in a few moments the Uhlans, or Lancers,
who formed the advance guard of the regiments,
were over the frontier. Then followed the

infantry. As the leading ranks. of each battalion
arrived at the first point on the road from which
they caught sight of the Austrian colours that
showed the frontier, they raised a cheer, which
was quickly caught up by those in the rear, and
repeated again^ and again till, when the men
came up to the toll-house and saw their soldier-
prince standing on the border line, it swelled
into a rapturous roar of delight, which only
ceased to be replaced by a martial song that
was caught up by each battalion as it poured
into Bohemia. The chief himself stood calm
and collected ; but he gazed proudly on the
passing sections, and never did an army cross an
enemy's .frontier better equipped, better cared
for, or with a higher courage than that which
marched out of Saxony that day."

Over the picturesque hills of Saxony, over
the Giant Mountains into the fertile plains of
Bohemia, swiftly sped the three superbly-organ-
ised armies like huge and shining serpents ; and
ever nearer did they converge on the point which,
with mathematical accuracy, had been selected
as the place where they would have to coil and
deliver their fatal sting of fire. Hard did the
Austrians try to block the path of the triune
hosts and crush them in detail ; but the terribly
destructive needle-gun, with the forceful lance of
the lunging Uhlan and the circling sabre of the
ponderous Cuirassier, ever cleared the way, and
a series of preliminary triumphs marked the pro-
gress of the three armies towards junction and
final victory. By the 2qth the Red Prince had
reached Gitschin, the objective point of the
invasion, while his cousin the Crown Prince lay
at Koniginhof, on the left, a long day's march
distant. Meanwhile the Austrians had all retired
under the shelter of the guns of Koniggratz, a
strongly fortressed town on the left bank of the
Upper Elbe, there to take their final stand, with
their backs, as 'twere, to the wall.

The Austrians were commanded by Feldzeug-
meister Benedek, and their army had been re-
inforced by the troops of the King of Saxony,
who had sided with the foes of Prussia in the
impending conflict, and were sure to give a good
account of themselves. An equall)- stubborn re-
sistance was to be expected from the Hungarian
subjects of the Emperor Francis Joseph, who
were second to none in all his polyglot do-
minions in respect of that ancient valour and
other chivalrous qualities which had caused this
gallant people to be called the " Engli.>h of the
East." Finer horsemen than the Hungarians
existed in no army in all the world ; and in this

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

campaign, as in every other in which they had
ever been engaged, the Austrians were particu-
larly strong in cavalry. But, on the other hand,
the Prussians were known to be armed with the
lately-invented breech-loading needle-gun, while
the Austrians still clung to the older-fashioned
muzzle-loader, and professed to make light of
their opponents' new-fangled rifle. They were

thought. It appears that we have over 15,000
prisoners, while the loss on the Austrian side is
still greater in dead and wounded, being no less
than 20,000. Two of the Army Corps are utterly
scattered, and some of the regiments are wiped
out to the last man. I have, indeed, up till now
seen more Austrian prisoners than Prussian
soldiers."

'major von ungar came spurring in with a great piece of news" {p. 77

soon to be shown convincingl}- which was the
better weapon.

It was not till June 30th that King William
and his paladins, Moltke, Bismarck, and von
Roon, left Berlin by rail for the seat of war.
They had scorned to witness the preliminary
heats, so to speak, and only wanted to be present
at the grand final. On July 2nd, after reaching
Gitschin, which was near the headquarters of the
Red Prince, Bismarck wrote to his wife : " Just
arrived from Sichrow. The field of battle there
is still covered with corpses, horses, and arms.
Our victories (so far) are greater than we

On the night of the same day (2nd July)
King William, now in his seventieth year, had
retired to rest in a little room of the '* Golden
Lion,'' which overlooks the market-place of
Gitschin — a quaint little old town nestling
among the hills of Northern Bohemia, on the
southern side of the Giant Mountains. Wearied
out with the fatigues of the day, he had hardl}'
closed his eyes in sleep when he was uncere-
moniously woke up. His Majesty opened his
eyes, and found Moltke standing by his bedside,
the bearer of most important news, which Genera!
Voigts-Rhetz had just brought in from the Red

KONIGGRATZ.

Prince, whose headquarters were some six miles
further to the east, at the chateau of Kamenitz
on the Koniggratz road. Voigts-Rhetz had first
of all carried his momentous news to Moltke,
who lodged on the opposite side of the square,
and who was the real ruler of Prussia's battles,
now and after in the French war. The King
did nothing without consulting Moltke, nor
did his Majesty ever issue an order that was
not based on the well-thought-out advice of his
Chief of the StaflF.

The message of the Red Prince was of the verv
highest importance, for it upset all the resolu-
tions which had previouslv been taken at the
Prussian headquarters. Early in the day the
exact whereabouts of the Austrians was unknown.
It was supposed that they were on the left, or
eastern, side of the Elbe, furthest from the
Prussians, with their right and left flanks resting

this resolution was revoked and replaced by
another which deprived the fagged-out Prussians
of the pro.spect of their much-needed day's rest ;
and a bold and rapid rider — Lieutenant von
Norman — was despatched across country to the
Crown Prince at Koniginhof to ensure his co-
operation with the Red Prince in a particular
manner on the morrow.

But von Norman had barely started on his
long and perilous ride when, lo and behold !
another officer. Major von Ungar, came spurring
in to the quarters of the Red Prince with a great
piece of news. Attended by onl}- a i^w dragoons,
this officer had gone out scouting in the direction
of Koniggratz, and discovered that the bull: of
the Austrian army was without doubt on the
right, or Prussian, side of the Elbe, holding a
strong position on the further bank of the Bis-
tritz brook, which ran very nearly parallel with

h-^\

KONIGGR.\TZ.

on two Strong fortresses — Josephstadt and Konig-
gratz, respectively — a position which it would
have been terribl}- difficult, if not impossible, for
their adversaries to assail ; so that, pending the
discovery of their real whereabouts, it had been
resolved to let the Prussian troops rest on the
3rd, as they had been wearied out by their
incredible feats of marching and fighting. Pre-
sently, however, "from information received,"

the Elbe at a distance Irom it of some four miles.
The position was strong, but not half so much so
as the dreaded one beyond the Elbe, and the
hearts of the Prussians jumped for joy. It seemed
to them as if God had already delivered the
Austrians into their hands, as Cromwell avowed
of the Scots when they left their high ground
at Dunbar and descended to meet his Iron-
sides on the plain. After gleaning this priceless

battlp:s of the nineteenth century.

intelligence, von Norman had to ride for his life.
A squadron of Austrian cavalry made a dash to
catch him, but he rode like an English fox-
hunter, and only left behind him, as a souvenir
of his audacious visit to the enemy's lines, a part
of his tunic which had been carried away by an
Austrian lance-thrust.

This, then, was the news which Voigts-Rhetz
had brought to Moltke and the King at Gitschin,
and then the situation underwent an immediate
and final change. It was resolved to assail the
Austrian position early on the morrow^ with the
whole force of the united Prussian armies, and
another message to this efiFect, cancelling all
previous ones, as a codicil does a will, was at

Prussia us..

midnight despatched to the Crown Prince on
one hand and Herwarth on the other, informing
them of the altered state of things, and desiring
them on the morrow to assail the flanks of the
Austrians as fast and furiously as ever they could ;
while the Red Prince would apply his battering-
rams to their elevated and strongly entrenched
centre. This urgent message was entrusted to
Colonel von Finckenstein, who, after a very dark
and dangerous ride of twenty miles, reached the
Crown Prince's quarters about four o'clock on
the morning of the 3rd July.

That fateful morning was a very wet and raw-
one, pretty similar to that which, after a rainy
night, had dawned upon the English at Waterloo.
Long before midnight the troops had all been in
motion to the front. The moon occasionally
blinked out, but was mostly hidden behind
clouds, and then could be distinctly seen the
cleca\-ing bivouac fires in the places v/hich had

been occupied by the troops along the road from
Gitschin to Sadowa and Koniggriitz. These
flres looked like large will-o'-the-wisps as their
flames flickered about in the wind and stretched
for manv a mile, for the bivouacs of so large a
force as that of the Red Prince's armv of nearh
1 00,000 men spread over a wide extent of country.
With the first signs of dawn a drizzling rain came
on, which lasted until late in the afternoon. The
wind increased and blew coldiv upon the soldiers,
and they were short of both sleep and food, while
frequent gusts bore down the water-laden corn
on both sides of the ground along the way.

Moltke and his staff" had left Gitschin by four
o'clock, driving to Horitz, where, mounting
their horses, they rode on to Dub and joined
Prince Frederick Charles. For this was the
centre point of assembly. " A few short words,''
wrote the Times correspondent, " passed from
the Commander of the First Arm}- to his Chief of
the Staff ; a few aides-de-camp^ mounting silently,
rode away ; and, as it were, by the utterance of
a magician's spell, one hundred thousand armed
Prussian warriors, springing into sight as if from
the bowels of the earth, swept over the southern
edge of the Milowitz ravine towards the hill oi
Dub."

About eight o'clock, King William, with Bis-
marck and others of his great men, arrived upon
the scene. Behind the King, besides his staff",
were his ro3^al guests, w'ith their numerous
retinues of adjutants and equerries, grooms and
horses, in number equal unto about a couple ot
squadrons — making a fine mark for the shells of
the Austrians. Before mounting his good mare
" Fenella " — thenceforth to be called '' Sadowa ''
— the King had got into his great-coat and put
on goloshes over his boots. A wrong pair of
spurs had been brought from Gitschin and would
not fit. A groom whipped his off", and strapped
them on over the ro^-al goloshes ; and thus
equipped, with a field-glass slung round his neck
by a long strap, the King rode away to view the
course of the terrific fight, being everywhere
received with tremendous cheering by his
enthusiastic troops. For it touched their hearts
to see so hoary a king come forth at the head
of his " Volk in Waffen^^ or people in arms, to
do strenuous battle with the alien. No roi
faineant^ or stay-at-home monarch he, but one
of the good old sort, like our own royal Edwards
and Harries, under whose personal leadership
the French were " beaten, bobbed, and thumped ''
at Cre'cy and at Agincourt.

It had been thought incredible b\- the Prussian

KONIGGRATZ.

leaders that the Austrians should have waived
the advantages of a position behind the Elbe,
and come forward several miles on its hither
bank so as to meet their adversaries on the
terms of the latter. But a closer inspection of
their line of battle showed that it had been
singularly well chosen. Along their front ran
the boggy Bistritz brook, its banks dotted with
farmsteads, villages, and clumps of wood, forming
fine cover for infantry ; while beyond this the
ground rose in gentle undulations till it finally
assumed the
appearance of
a commanding
swell or ridge,
from which
Benedek's bat-
teries could
pour down
death and de-
struction on
the advancing
Prussians over
the heads of
his own infan-
try when en-
gaging the hel-
meted wielders
of the needle-
gun. From the
top of the
slight eleva-
tion whereon
stands the vil-
lage of Dub
the ground
slopes gently
down to the
Bistritz, which

the road crosses at the village of Sadowa, a mile
and a quarter from Dub. From Sadowa the
ground again rises beyond the Bistritz to the
little village of Chlum (mark that village !),
conspicuous by its church- tower crowning the
gentle hill, a mile and a half bevond Sadowa —
a beautiful bit of countrv not unlike some parts
of England with its hill and dale, clustering
cottages, peeping chateaux, hedgerows, groves,
and waving grain-fields. Profiting to the full by
the defensive advantages of this terraced terrain,
the Austrians had seamed it with entrenched
batteries, and palisaded their approaches with
felled trees and intertwisted branches, making
of the whole a natural fortress formidable to
their assailants.

GENERAL BENEDEK.

But nothing could daunt the hearts of the
Prussians. They had got to beat Benedek and
his 220,000 men, and the sooner the better. The
Red Prince was afraid that, after all, Benedek
might seek to retire behind the Elbe, and this
had to be prevented at all costs and hazards. The
Prince might not be able to beat him off-hand,
but he could at least fasten on Benedek like a
bulldog and hold him fast there till the arrival
of the Crown Prince, when the bull could be
altogether felled and laid upon its back. Bang,

therefore, went
the Prussian
batteries, and
presently the
whole sinuous
line of battle,
extending
about five
miles from Cis-
towes (oppo-
site Chlum) on
the Prussian
left, to Ne-
chanitz on the
right, began to
be wrapped in
wreathed can-
non smoke.
The Austrians
returned shot
for shot, and
neither side
either gained
or lost ground.
In the centre
the Prussians
pushed battery
after battery
into action, and kept up a tremendous fire on
the Austrian guns ; but these returned it with
interest, knowing the ground well, and every
shell fell true, heaping the ground with dead
and wounded men and horses.

While this furious cannonade was going on,
columns of Prussian infantry were moved down
towards the Bistritz, with intent to storm the
line of villages— Sadowa, Dohalitz, and Dohalicka
—on the further side. Shortly before their pre-
parations were complete, the village of Benatek,
on the Austrian right, caught fire, and the 7th
Prussian Division made a dash to secure it ; yet
the Austrians were not driven out by the flames,
and here, for the first time in the battle, it came
to desperate hand-to-hand fighting. But the

BATTLES OF THE NINErEEx\TH CENTURY.

bloody inclcc here was nothing to what was now
mixing up the combatants in the wood of Sa-
dowa, and converting it into a perfect slaughter-
house and hell upon earth. Boldly the Prussians

he was watching the progress of events in front
of Sadowa wood some roe-deer, startled from
their leafy glades by the infernal pother around
them, came bounding out and oast him : and

"THE PRUSSIANS PUSHED BATTERY AFTER BATTERY INTO ACTION"" (/. 79

advanced upon this village and its wood, plying
the rapid needle-gun with awful effect upon
the wood's defenders. But nothing could have
exceeded the splendid courage with which the
Austrian battalions clung to their cover, and
their volleys, supplemented as they were by a
truly infernal fire from the batteries behind and
above, seemed to mow down whole ranks of
their assailants. But neither bullets nor shells
could decide the fierce struggle ; the bayonet
had to be called in to do this. And now ensued
most horrible scenes of carnage, which ended,
however, before eleven o'clock, in the capture by
the Prussians of the aforesaid villages. And no
wonder that the Austrians chose to call the
tremendous battle after the village and wood
where they had made so glorious but ineffectual
a stand.
Moltke himself afterwards related that, while

also how, when he and his suite rode forward a
little way along the Lissa road to reconnoitre the
Austrian position, he encountered an ownerless
ox plodding along, serenely indifferent to the
shells that were bursting all around it. Opposite
the Sadowa wood on the Lissa heights, the
Austrians had planted a most formidable
entrenched line of guns, and Moltke afterwards
told how he succeeded in getting the King to
counter-order a command to storm these en-
trenched batteries from the front, which could
onlv have ended in the bloodiest of disasters to
their assailants.

About this time Bismarck, seeing how little
headway the Prussians were making, began to
be rather apprehensive as to the general result,
fearing even that, if the Crown Prince came not
up soon, they might, after all, be beaten. But
one little incident gave him fresh hope. Taking

KONIGGRATZ.

out his cigar- case he offered a weed to Moltke,
who deHberately chose the best of the lot.
"Oh," thought Bismarck to himself, "if Moltke
is calm enough to do that, we need have no
fear after all."

The coming of the Crown Prince, with his
additional hundred thousand men, had been as
anxiously looked for as the arrival of Bliicher on
the field of Waterloo, and in truth the two situa-
tions were closely alike. Suddenly Bismarck,
who had been looking intently in the Crown
Prince's direction, lowered his glass and pointed
to certain lines in the far distance, but these the
others pronounced to be furrows. " No," said
Bismarck, looking again, " the spaces are not
equal : they are advancing lines." And so they
were ; and by eleven o'clock the smoke of
som--^ Austrian batteries furnished a convincing

time before his advance had thus been signalised,
Moltke made answer to the King, who had
been questioning him as to the prospects of the
fight, " To-day your Majesty will win, not only
the battle, but also the campaign."

" The Prussian reserves," wrote a correspond-
ent with the Austrians, '' were once more called
upon ; and from half-past twelve till nearly one
o'clock there was an artillery fire from centre to
left for six miles or more, which could not well
have been exceeded by any action of which
history makes mention. The battle was assum-
ing a more awful and tremendous aspect, and
the faint rays of sunshine which shot at inter-
vals through the lifting clouds only gave the
scene a greater terror." About this time, also,
" Benedek and his staff passed through the 6th
Corps, which was in reserve. As the green

" BOI-DLY THE PRUSSIANS ADVANCED UPON THIS VILLAGE AND ITS

wood" {p. 80).

proof that their fire was directed, not
against the Red Prince's, but " Unser Fritz's "
army ; and the words " The Crown Prince is
coining ! " passed from lip to lip. But, some
6

plumes were seen rapidly advancing, the bands
broke forth into the National Anthem, and the
men cheered their commander with no uncertain
note. Faces broke into broad smiles ; Jager

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

hats were thrown into the air ; all seemed joyous
in the anticipation of an approaching triumph.
Benedek, however, waved to them to cease
shouting, saying, in his peculiar tone of voice,
' Not now, my children : wait till to-morrow.' "
And it was wise advice ; for by this time Benedek
had begun to suspect that he and his men would
soon all have a verv different song to sing.

The storm and stress of battle were now begin-
ning to tell heavily on the Austrians. They
were, it is true, still holding their own, or some-
thing like it, on the line of the Bistritz ; but
what is that which suddenly attracts the atten-
tion of Benedek and his staff behind the village
of Chlum ? They gallop away thither to inquire
into the cause of all this new turmoil, and are
greeted with a destructive volley from the needle-
guns of '' Unser Fritz,'' who had by this time,
after a forced march of frightful difficulty across
the sodden country from Koniginhof, come upon
the scene with his Guards, and not only turned
the flank, but positively fastened on the rear of
the Austrian fighting line, at which he was now
hammering away with might and main. But his
path, so far, had been encumbered with corpses
and mutilated bodies in sickening masses.
" Around us,'' he wrote in his Diarv, '' lay or
hobbled about so many of. the well-known
figures of the Potsdam and Berlin garrisons. A
shocking appearance was presented by those who
were using their rifles as crutches, or were being
led up the heights by some other unwounded
comrades. The most horrid spectacle, however,
was that of an Austrian battery, of which all the
men and horses had been shot down. . . .
It is a shocking thing to ride over a battle-field,
and it is impossible to describe the hideous muti-
lations which present themselves. War is really
something frightful, and those who create it with
a stroke of the pen, sitting at a green-baize table,
little dream of what horrors they are conjuring
up. ... In Rosberitz, where the fight must
have been frightfully bitter, to judge from the
masses of dead and wounded, I foimd my kins-
man. Prince Antony of Hohenzollern, who had
been shot in the leg by three balls," and died of
his wounds soon after.

With the turning of the Austrian right by the
Crown Prince, the battle was virtuallv won. On
the extreme left, Herwarth had played similar
havoc with the Saxons, in spite of the heroic
desperation with which they fought ; and by
four o'clock the Prussian line of attack resem.bled
a huge semi-circle hemming in the masses of
battered and broken Austrian troops. Half an

hour later the latter, perceiving that victoiy had
at last been snatched from their grasp, began to give
way all along their line ; and then, with drums
beating and colours flying, the Red Prince's men.
with one accord, rose from their positions and
began a general advance. Perceiving his oppor-
tunity, the King now gallantly placed himself at
the head of the whole cavalry reserve of the First
Army, which " charged and completely over-
threw," to quote his Majesty's own words, a
similar mass of Austrian horsemen.

The nature of the ground had hitherto pre-
vented the cavalry of either army from acting in
masses, but the countr)- was more open on the
line of retreat to Koniggratz, and it now became
the scene of several splendid lance and sabre
conflicts. As the squadrons of the 3rd Prussian
Dragoons were rushing forward to charge some
Austrian battalions near the village of Wiester,
an Austrian Cuirassier brigade, led by an Eng-
lishman of the name of Beales, charged them
in flank. They drove the Prussians back, and,
smiting them heavily with their ponderous
swords, nearly destroyed the dragoons ; but
Hohenlohe's Prussian Uhlans, seeing their com-
rades worsted, charged with their lances couched
against the Austrian flanks, and compelled them
to retire. Pressed b}- the Lancers they fell back,
fighting hard, but then the scarlet Zieten Hussars
charged them in turn in the rear. A fierce
combat ensued, and the gallant Beales himself
was borne wounded to the ground.

But all would not avail. The Austrians were
in full flight towards the fortress of Koniggratz,
pursued by cavalry, volleyed at by infantry, and
exposed to ever-increasing showers of shell-fire.
Yet from some positions of advantage they con-
tinued to retaliate in kind ; and it was while
standing watching the pursuit that King William
and his suite became exposed to a terrific counter-
fire of shells. Bismarck, who was still with him,
ventured to chide his Majesty for thus exposing
his precious person so unnecessarily. '' Does
your j\Iajesty, then, think they are swallows ? '^
asked Bismarck, on the King affecting to
make light of the Avhizzing of shells and
bullets. " No one," wrote Bismarck to his wife,
'' would have ventured to speak to the King
as I did, when a whole mass of ten troopers
and fifteen horses of a Cuirassier regiment lay
wallowing in their blood close to us, and the
shells whizzed in unpleasant proximity to the
King, who remained just as quiet and composed
as if he had been on the parade-ground at
Berlin." In spite of all remonstrances the King

KONIGGRATZ.

would not budge, so, edging up on his dark
chestnut behind the King's mare, Bismarck gave
her a good sly kick with the point of his boot,
and made her bound forward with her royal
rider out of the zone of iire.

On coming up with the troops of the Crown
Prince, the King had been nearly swallowed up
by them for sheer jo}-. At sight of the venerable
monarch, who had been exposing his person
throughout the bloody fray like the most dutiful
of his soldiers, battalion after battalion — some
the mere shadows of their former selves — burst

cheering of the troops of my extreme right and

his extreme left wing Two years ago I

embraced him as victor at Diippel ; to-day we
were both victors : for, after the stubborn stand
made by his troops, I had come to decide the
day with my army."

The battle had been won, but at what a
terrible cost ! Even the victors shuddered at
the sight of the multitudes of bodies which
heaped the blood}- field. By superior arms,
superior numbers, and superior strateg}-, Prussia,
at the cost of 10,000 of her bravest sons, had

GRAVE-STONES ERECTED OX THE KATJLE-HELU IN MEMORY OF THE 1-ALLEN.

into frenzied cheering and rushed forward, officers
and men, to kiss the hand, the boot, the stirrup
of their beloved leader. But presently a scene
more touching still was presented to the vic-
torious Prussian troops, when the heroic Crown
Prince rode up and met his father. " I reported
to the King," wrote the Crown Prince, "the
presence of my arm}' on the battle-field, and
kissed his hand, on which he embraced me.
Neither of us could speak for a time. He was
the first to find words, and then he said he was
pleased that I had been successful, and had
proved my capacity for command, handing me
at the same time the order ' Pour le mcritc '
(highest of Prussian war decorations) for my
previous victories." Earlier in the day " Unser
Fritz " had met his cousin the Red Prince.
" ^Ve waved our caps to one another from afar,
and then fell into one another's arms amid the

won a crowning victory over her Austrian rival,
who lost 40,000 men (including 18,000 prisoners),
II standards, and 174 guns. "I have lost all,"
exclaimed the defeated Benedek, " except, alas !
my life ! " The highest proportion of the
Prussian loss of 10,000 had fallen on Franzecky's
Division, whereof 2,000, out of 15,000, had bittei>
the Bohemian dust. But " Franzecky vor ! "
("Franzecky to the front ! ") will always live \\\
the Prussian soldier's song as a memory of the
ever-ready leader who bore the brimt of the
awful struggle on the line of the Bistritz.

That same night the King slept at Horitz —
not upon a bed, but on his carriage cushions
spread out on a sofa. Bismarck's couch was at
first formed by a wisp of straw under the open
colonnade of the same townlet, though after-
wards he was invited to share the wretched
room of the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg.

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

Moltke rode back to Gitschin, a distance of
about twenty miles from the battle-field, where
a cup of weak tea was all the refreshment that
could be got for him ; and then, in a fever of
fatigue, he threw himself down to sleep in his
clothes, as he had to be up betimes and return

long years to humble the pride of Austria ;
it took William the Victorious, with Moltke as
his " battle-thinker," but seven short days to
achieve the same result. The Prussian soldier
preferred to call the battle which he had just
helped to win, Koniggratz, because this name

"the crown prinxe rode up and met his father" (/. S3)

to Horitz to procure the King's sanction for his
further plans.

It was he, the " Great Silent One," who had
won the greatest and most momentous battle of
modern times.

It had taken Frederick the Great seven

sounded to his ears as but a pun on the words
" Dcm Komg gercitlis " (" The King will win ").
But the King had only won by acting on the
sage advice of his all-calculating Moltke, whose
motto was " Erst ivdgen, dann wagen '' — thai
is, " First weigh, then away ! ''

THAT war whereby the power of Spain
was broken in South America, is known
as the South American War of Inde-
pendence. On the one side was the
imperial power of Spain fighting for supremacy ;
on the other side were her colonists — Creoles,
American natives of Spanish blood — fighting
for freedom.

The first pitched battle was fought in Mexico
near Aculco, in 1810 ; the last, on the plain of
Ayacucho, in Peru, on December 9th, 1824.

Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador had already
Arown off the Spanish yoke when General
Bolivar, towards the end of 1823, arrived with
his victorious army in Peru. He was hailed as
■' The Deliverer," and addressed the National
Congress at Lima in these words : —

" The soldiers who have come from the Plate,
the Maule, the Magdalena, and the Orinoco as
the deliverers of Peru will not return to their
native country till they are covered with laurels,
till thev can pass under triumphal arches, nor
till they can carry off as trophies the standards
of Castille. They will conquer and leave Peru
free, or they will die. This I promise."

These words spoken, it remained to make
them actualities ; and how this was done will
form our stor^'.

In June of the following year Bolivar took
the field with 10,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry.
His cantonments were at Truxillo, and from
there he began to move southwards to meet the
enemv. The Spanish troops comprised 3,500
at Cuzco under the Viceroy of Peru, Laserna ;
b,5oo at Arequipa and Jauja under Canterac, and
1 ,000 away in the remote south under General
Valdez, who was soon to be recalled to assist his
companions in arms. The Spanish force nearest
to Bolivar was thus General Canterac's. This
force was remarkablv efficient and in the highest
state of discipline. Its equipments were superior

and complete ; its artillery and cavalry par-
ticularl}' well appointed ; and, what was not
always the case with the liberating army, the
troops were paid with the greatest regularity — a
strong conducive to good discipline and order.

On August 2nd Bolivar reviewed his army on
the tableland between Rancas and Pasco, a little
north of Reyes, situated at an altitude of 12,000
feet above the level of the sea, and amid a scene
as majestic as may be found in the world. On
the west rose the Andes, while on the east, and
stretching away to the Brazils were the sublime
ramifications of the Cordilleras. Surrounded by
natural displays of such magnitude, Bolivar's
army, composed of veterans who had fought in
the Peninsular War, seen the conflagration of
Moscow and the capitulation of Paris — as well as
purely South American troops — looked a mere
handful. Still it was enthusiastic, and the
hills rang with " Vivas " at the termination
of the General's stirring address that was read
simultaneously to each corps.

" Soldiers,'' so ran the address, " you are about
to finish the greatest undertaking Heaven has
confided to men — that of saving an entire world
from slaver}'.

'' Soldiers ! the enemies j-ou have to over-
throw boast of fourteen years of triumphs ; they
are, therefore, worthy to measure their swords
with ours, which have glittered in a thousand
combats.

" Soldiers I Peru and America expect from
you Peace, the daughter of Victory. Even
liberal Europe beholds you with delight, because
the freedom of the New World is the hope of
the universe. Will 30U disappoint it ? No !
No ! No ! You are invmcible.''

Meanwhile, Canterac, having united his forces
at Jauja, was marching northwards to meet

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

Bolivar. Between the two there lay a lake, and
the patriot army marched south on the west
side of this lake, while the Spanish army
marched north on the east side. The result of
this was to delay for four months the general
ewgagement that was expected. Instead of the
armies meeting face to face on the line of their
march, only detachments entered into action on
the plain of Junin, which lies to the south of the
lake. It was purely a cavalry engagement, this
— not a shot was fired ; the lance and sabre
alone were used. As it was, the Royalists were
worsted, losing nineteen officers, 345 rank and
file, and eighty prisoners. The Patriots lost only
three officers and forty-two rank and file, with a
few wounded. Canterac now fell back upon
Cuzco, which he reached with less than 5,000
men, his ranks thinned mostly by heavy de-
sertions. The Patriot army continued to
advance towards Cuzco, falling in, however,
with no enemy. In October, Bolivar, expecting
no further engagements that year, left the army
and set out for Lima to hasten forward rein-
forcements that were expected from Colombia.
He gave instructions to his second in command,
General Sucre, to go into cantonments at
Andahuaylas and Abancay, and, as the rainy
season was about to commence, to cease active
liostilities for the time being.

Bolivar had not been gone three da3's, when
■General Sucre began to question in his 'own
mind the wisdom of his superior officer's instruc-
tions ; so he called a council-of-war, at which,
besides himself, were Generals La Mar, Lara, and
Miller — the last, a distinguished British soldier.
At this council-of-war it was agreed that if
they did as Bolivar had commanded, and lay idle
in their tents, the Spanish forces, recruited and
united at Cuzco, would come upon them and an-
nihilate them. The position was a delicate one,
for obedience to a superior officer is a soldier's
first duty. Still, there was Valdez marching from
the south to join Canterac and Laserna at Cuzco,
and it was proposed to endeavour to intercept
Valdez. Operations were thus entered upon in
the face of Bolivar's strict orders to the contrary,
and these operations had the effect of drawing
the enemy out of his stronghold.

Now followed two months of the mo t ex-
traordinary manoeuvring that ever preceded
a battle. The Royalists, under the Viceroy
Laserna, began to move in a westerly direction
from Cuzco, and the Patriots to fall back. Twice
the Patriot army offered battle, and twice it was
refused. The Royalists, sure of success, sought

to get behind the Patriots, thus cutting off their
retreat and so annihilating them. At length,
after several brushes — of which the most serious
occurred in the' Valley of Corpaguayco, where,
besides losing their spare horses and some mules,
the Patriots had 200 men killed, as against a
death-roll of thirty on the other side — a position
was reached which seemed to satisfy- the require-
ments of both parties for the final grip. That
position was on the plain of Ayacucho ; and it
is here that Bolivar's address to the soldiers
should have been delivered rather than on the
eve of the affair of Junin : for it was here that
the blow was struck that made the power oi!

BATTLE

AYACUCHO.

Dec. 9 1S24.

.;6!5BB EEBBg V r^

.Heights of 'vnni Condoi-kaiiki
'^ -''' 3gBI|iBIBIl5 ;?

'Mi

3fft eiQ B|4

V<^

□D"

il—RoyalistCampJ I

Ejionti^oeh ^.

\ /^ I 'a in of. A tj a 'c\u c li o\
\ % 12„': P.-PJJ o q' p □ □ Q a a o |

Ui'D-^^.

"9>.

-sie

yalist army
\ l_ I Patriot a>f}iy. |
X. Royalist TrailUuri.
C. Do. .4rtUUry BrigT Cacho.
3. /*,' Div. Infantry (Sen. Monet
4. 2'-'.rf Do. Do, l.rn. I'iltatoboi.

5. Die. of I'anguard (!^n. f'aldez.

6. fS Sqitadroni Cavalnj Brigr Ferraz.

3. Patriot Tra,!!^urs

f^n Indian vUtage).'
9. Gen, Sucre.
10. Div. Peru Gen. La Mar.
I \. Div. Colombia Gen.Ctrdora.
X2. Do. Do. Gen. Lara.
'Cai'oJryj of Colombia. \

of Peru. \Gen.li

.. of Bucnot M'jreA
•ly fieU piece which til e Pntr

Spain in South America reel and totter to its
fall.

The plain of Ayacucho is situated at an alti-
tude of 11, coo feet above sea-level, in the
Peruvian department of Ayacucho. It is
square-shaped and about two or three miles in
circuit. On its north and south sides it is
flanked by deep and rugged ravines. On the
west it descends gradually for a couple of leagues
to what was then the high road to Lima, and
which runs along the base of a lofty mountain
range which rises like a wall. On this side
was stationed the Patriot army, its retreat by
this road cut off by detachments sent by the
Spanish Viceroy to destroy the bridges and
render the defiles impassable. On the east siide
the plain was terminated by the abrupt ridge of
Condorkanki, and a little below the summit of
this ridge the Royalist army bivouacked during
the night preceding the fight. It was on the

afternoon' of the 8th of December that the'
respective armies reached these positions.

The eve of battle is worth describing. After
the men on each side had been refreshed,
and about two hours before sunset, a Spanish
battahon of Hght infantry filed down into the
plain and extended itself at the foot of the hill.
A light infantry battalion of the Patriot army
went forth to meet it. The opposing battalions,
arrayed in extended files, engaged in skirmishing
and performed evolutions to the sound of the
bugle. The steadiness and behaviour of the
men on each side were admired by the officers,
and both parties agreed now and then to in-
tervals of rest. During these intervals officers
from the opposing sides approached one another
and engaged in conversation. In the Patriot
army was a Spaniard, Lieutenant-Colonel Tur,
whose marriage to a beautiful woman of Lima
had made him espouse the native cause. In the
other army was his brother, Brigadier-General
Tur, who sent a message to the former, saying
how he regretted to see him, a Spaniard, in the
ranks of rebels, and bearing arms against his
king and country. " Yet," the message continued,
'' you may rely upon my protection when the
coming battle will have placed you at the mercy
of the Loyalists." The other brother was dis-
posed to resent this message as an insult ; still,
they drew near to each other and ultimately
embraced in view of both armies. When the
shadows began to deepen across the plain, the
different battalions retired to their quarters to
waken to more serious work in the morning.

To waken, we have said. It is doubtful, how-
ever, if a single eye on Ayacucho were closed in
slumber that night. All knew that they were
about to engage in battle ; none knew what
the result might be, and whether this might not
be his last night on earth. Both sides were
wearied with the terrible marches and counter-
marches, over mountains, down rocky defiles,
and with the harassing watchfulness that had
been continuously maintained. It was with the
greatest difficulty that the officers of the Ro3'alist
army had kept their troops together. To
prevent them from deserting, the different corps
had habitually bivouacked in column, sur-
rounded by sentinels, and outside of these again
liad been placed a circle of officers on constant
dut}'. No soldier was allowed to pass the
sentinels, who had strict orders to shoot down
any one attempting to do so. Even detach-
ments were not sent out for cattle and pro-
visions, in case the}' shovild refuse to return ; so

AYACUCHO. 87

the Royalists had been obliged to eat the flesh
of horses, mules, and asses. These galling
restraints the soldiers knew could be ended in
only one way, and that was by a decisive en-
gagement with the enem}'. So eager wero
they thus rendered for the fray that they had
begun to murmur against their leaders, and were
loudly accusing them of cowardice in avoiding"
a conflict with the foe.

On the other side, the Patriots, too, were
sick of manoeuvring. They had been subject to
constant harassing attacks from hostile Indians,
who hurled stones down the mountain sides into
their ranks while on the march, attacked
detached parties, even made prisoners, whom
they cruelly ill-treated. Again, their provisions
were nigh exhausted, and so scarce had their
horses become that many of the cavalry soldiers
were mounted on mules. These matters,
instead of improving, were with the progress of
time only becoming worse. All, then, were
anxious to have a termination put to the wear}-
round of monotonous marching, with increasing
exposure to dangers that from their continual
presence had ceased to be exciting. Men so
placed are not likely to sleep during the night
preceding the day of battle. Besides, the dis-
tance between the two armies measured only a
mile, and Sucre, fearing that the Royalists might
descend from their heights to surprise them in
the dark, kept his corps in close column ready
for the attack. He also sent forward the bands
of two battalions with a company to the foot of
the ridge. These continued to play during the
night while a sharp fire was kept up upon
the Royalist outposts, the idea being to make
believe that the Patriots were under arms
waiting to join in fight. In this way a
lieutenant-colonel and three men were killed in
the Spanish camp bv chance bullets, so near
were the opposing armies.

Under Sucre were 5,780 men, and these were
arranged on the plain in the following order : —

Bogota, Caracas, Voltigeros, and Pinchincha
regiments, under General Cordova, on the right.

Hussars of Junin, Granaderos of Colombia,
Hussars of Colombia, Granaderos of Buenos
Ayres regiments, cavalry, under General Miller,
in the centre.

Nos. I, 2, and 3 Legions regiments, under
General La Mar, on the left.

Bargas, Vencedores, Rifles regiments, under
General Lara, in reserve.

Artillery : one 4-pounder in front, under
Commandant La Fuente.

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY*

The Royalist arm}- numbered 9,310, and was
commanded by the Viceroy, Laserna. It
was posted on Condorkanki — a division under
General Valdez on the north side of the height
or extreme right of the Royalists ; next to him,
and still on the Ro3'alist right, a division of
infantry under General Monet, in the centre

things that the Colombia cavalrj-man had to do
on mounting was the fixing of his bridle reins
above his knees. By this means he guided his
charger, and so had his hands left free to wield
his heav}- lance — a strong, tough sapling from
twelve to fourteen feet long. ^ The Patriot
cavalry, let it be mentioned, were the fines?

/ // /'

THERE LIES MY LAST HORSE!"'
(/• 90.)

cavalry, and on the left a division of infantry
with seven pieces of artillery under General
Villalobos. At dawn of day, an unperceived
movement took place in the Royalist camp.
The division under General Valdez, compris-
ing four field-pieces, four battalions, and two
squadrons of hussars, stole away to the north.

It was a chilly morning while the men were
buckling on their armour, saddling their horses,
examining their bayonets, and putting in order
their various accoutrements. Amongst the

horsemen in the world, drawn from the gaiichoi,
of the pampas, the guasos of Chili, and the
llaneros of Colombia — all accustomed to ridt
from childhood.

Well, Avhile such little details as we have
mentioned were in progress, and the mounting
sun had tempered the chilly air, the men on both
sides were observed rubbing their hands and
in other trifling ways showing tne satisfaction
which the nearness of the onset gave them.

At nine o'clock the first move forward began.

THE ROUTED SPANIARDS CLAMBERED UP THE RUGGED SIDES" (A go)-

BATTLES OF TEE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

Then the division of infantry- on the RoyaHst
Jeft under General Villalobos commenced to
wind down the rugged side of Condorkanki.
Laserna, the Viceroy, on foot, placed himself at
the head of the descending files, and, obliquing
to the left, led them into the plain. The other
division of Royalist infantry, under General
Monet, came down direct, while between these
two divisions similarly descended the cavalry,
the men leading their horses. As the different
files reached the plain they silently formed into
column. Meanwhile, General Sucre, of the
Patriot armv, rode along his line, and to each
corps individually, in forcible Avords, recalled the
achievements of the past. This done, he took up
a position in the centre, and to his whole army
in a loud voice, said : " Soldiers ! Remember
that upon the efforts of this day depends the fate
of South America."

Then began the forward movement of the
Patriots, the division of infantry under General
Cordova and two regiments of cavalry being
ordered to advance. Cordova, in front of his
division, now formed into four parallel columns
with cavalry in the intervals, having gone a few
steps, dismounted, and plunging his sword into
his c"harger, exclaimed :

" There lies ni}' last horse ! I have no means
of escape, and we must fight it out together."

This display of spirit on the part of their
leader roused the men to such enthusiasm that
they became irresistible. They thought of the
enemy, not as something to be feared, but
only as something to be vanquished. The
consequence was that, having discharged their
muskets, and Cordova's shout of " Onward, with
the step of conquerors I '' ringing in their ears,
they pressed forward and crossed bayonets with
the foe. For four minutes, Avhich contained
the work of hours, the two contending forces
struggled, the mass swaying now this way and
now that, so that it was impossible to tell which
would give way. At an opportune moment the
Colombian cavalry charged at full gallop, and
with both hands free wielding their tough lances
with such force that, their onset proved irresist-
ible, and the Royalists lost ground. The vigour
of the Patriots was only increased by this ad-
vantage, which they followed up with such effect
that the Royalists were hopelessly driven back
with terrible slaughter. Colonel Silva, who led
the cavalry charge, had fallen, covered with
wounds. Wounded now, too, and taken prisoner,
was Laserna, the Vicero\- himself — representative
of the proud monarch of Spain. The routed

Spaniards clambered up the rugged sides of
Condorkanki, and the chasing Patriots deploy-
ing, fired upon the fugitives, whose lifeless bodies
rolled down the height till stayed by jutting
crags or bushes.

While the crags and bu.shes of Condorkanki
are being thus bathed in Spanish blood, quite a
different fortune is attending the Patriot arms
on their left. As already mentioned, General
Valdez, with four field-pieces, four battalions and
two squadrons of cavalry, had stolen at dawn of
day, unperceived by the Patriots, away north-
wards from the Spanish camp. The object of
that manceuvre now became apparent. He had
made a detour of several miles, and while the
contest we have just witnessed was still in the
balance, suddenly opened a heavy fire from his
four field-pieces and a battalion in extended files
upon the Patriot left. This obliged two battalions
of General La Mar's division, posted on the left,
to fall back, and its retreat was not prevented by
the battalion Bargas from General Lara's division,
which had been kept in reserve, sent to support
it. Two of Valdez's battalions had now crossed
the ravine into the plain, and pressed at the
double-quick upon the retiring Patriots. At
this juncture General Aliller, who held a portion
of the Patriot cavalr}- in reserve, led the Hussars
of Junin against the Spaniards, and drove them^
back across the ravine. This brillian' ..harge
conducted by Miller saved the battle. La Mar'j
division was thereby enabled to rally, and came
to Miller's support. The Patriots in this part of
the field, animated by Cordova's success against
the Viceroy and the shouts of victory that
were echoed back from Condorkanki, proved an
easy match for Valdez's now somewhat scattered
forces, and the Spanish general, so famous for
his marches and tactical skill, soon found his
division broken, his artiller}' taken, his cavalry
flying in disorder, and his infantry dispersed.
The day was now lost and won in little more
than an hour, and the vanquished Royalists
flying in all directions.

Among the Hussars of Junin so effectively led
b}' Miller at the critical moment, were twent}--
five who, owing to the scarcity of horses, had
no better steeds than baggage-mules. This was
snnply for display and to lead the enemy tc
think their cavalr\' numbered more than their
horsemen actually did. These Hussars on mules
were ordered to remain in the rear and not
to take part in Miller's charge. But they
answered : '' No ; we will conquer or die with
our comrades.' And their braver^- was soon

AYACUCHO.

rewardea, for after the charge they were able to
substitute good Spanish horses, whose riders had
fallen, for their less nimble mules. Six weeks
previously, when on a reconnoitring expedition
towards Cuzco, General Miller had been sur-
prised at a place called Chuquibamba, and his
horse, which was the finest in the army, and
which he had ridden at Junin, with an orderly,
fell into the enemy's hands. This horse was now
seen amongst Valdez's retreating troops. Its
rider was immediately singled out for pursuit,
cut down, and the horse restored to its old
master. Another object of interest to the pur-
suing Patriots were the silver helmets of the
Spanish Hussars. The landscape gleamed with
these helmets wherever bodies of cavalry moved.
These became so attractive to the enem}' that
many threw them off to stop the pursuit, and
the gleam was quickly removed, the Patriots
snatching them off and stowing them away in
their valises.

At one o'clock on the day of the battle the
divisions of the Patriot army, under Generals
La Mar and Lara, reached the summit of Con-
dorkanki. Here General Canterac was stationed,
but before sunset he sued for terms of peace,
and an hour later rode to General Sucre's tent,
where the terms were agreed to. By these
terms Canterac, as supreme commander in Peru,
agreed to surrender to the liberating army the
whole of the territory possessed by Spain as far
as the Desaguadero. So in effect ended the
War of Independence, and so was extinguished
the power of Spain across the seas.

The losses on that da}', on the side of the

vanquished, were 1,400 killed and 700 wounded.
Amongst the captured, besides the Viceroy
and generals, were 16 colonels, 68 lieutenant-
colonels, 484 officers, and 3,200 rank and file.
The victors won at a cost of 370 killed and
609 wounded. The battle of Ayacucho was
regarded as the most brilliant ever fought in
South America. The discipline of the troops,
seasoned with years of fighting, was considered
such as would have been creditable to the best
European armies, while they were led by the
ablest officers on both sides. Bravery was
conspicuous on every hand, the victor}- being
not a matter of chance, but of determination,
fire, and valour.

Besides General ^Miller, who played so im-
portant a part in this action, other countrymen
of ours were that day engaged fighting for the
cause of Independence. Among them were
Major-General Francis B. O'Connor, brother of
Fergus O'Connor ; Major-General James Whittle.
Colonel William Ferguson, Lieutenant Martin,
who was killed, Major-General Arthur Sand,
Captain George Brown, wounded, Captam Henr}-
Wyman, wounded, and Captain Miller Hallowes.
These were chiefly officers in the Colombian
battalion of Rifles, which was originalh' composed
entirely of British subjects. During the long
course of the war these had died or been killed,
and the regiment was recruited from Colombian
Indians, the officers, however, being still British.
This regiment was the foremost in the fight
amongst the troops that routed the divisions of
Monet and Villalobos at the base of the Heights
of Condorkanki.

MAJOR-GENERAL ROBERT PAT-
TERSON, sixty-nine years old, ripe
with experience gained in at least
two wars, but burdened it may be
with more of the indecision and fears of old age
than is the usual lot of man — seeing before him,
in fact, bogev numbers of enemies — marched his
army one day this way and the next day that ;
and frittering away the time, at length, instead
of fighting, he allowed General Johnston and
q.ooo Confederate soldiers to slip quietly away
from him. The result was the result to be ex-
pected. General Johnston by a rapid march
reached General Beauregard's lines in time to
turn the tide of battle m favour of the South,
and the first decisive struggle of the American
Civil War was scored to the credit of the
Confederates.

Four o'clock on the morning of April 12th,
1 86 1, the Civil War began. At that hour a
shell fired from a battery on shore struck Fort
Sumter, a tiny fort built on a mudbank in the
ver).' centre of Charleston harbour ; and this
shot opened hostilities that were destined to last
for years. The next day, Saturday, the news
reached Washington that Fort Sumter, in
possession of a United States garrison, had been
bombarded by Southern militia acting under in-
structions from the Governor of South Carolina.
President Abraham Lincoln realised at once that
the time for pacific negotiations had passed and
the time for the employment of force had come.
On Sunday he drew up his first proclamation
relating to the war. It called for 75,000 militia
to assemble under arms to '' repossess the forts,
places, and properties which have been seized
from the Union." In the two days which
followed the issue of this call more than double
the number of men asked for had volunteered
for service. Every Free State in the Union
responded with citizens eager to uphold the

integrity of the Union. On the other hand,
every Slave State insultingly refused her quota
of the men required.

But ready and numberless as were the volun-
teers from the North, the resources of the States
in the way of arms and ammunition, officers,
and organisation, were utterl}' inadequate for
the crisis. Although by many it had long been
feared that the differences between the North
and South were being accentuated to a dan-
gerous degree, yet when the worst fears were
realised and the actual outbreak of rebellion
came, it took the country, as a country, com-
pletely by surprise. More than this, it caught
those in authority unprepared. So it was that
between the firing on Fort Sumter and the
first great battle — Bull Run — three months
elapsed. Those three months were spent in
arming the volunteers — for the United States,
then as now, had no standing army to speak of
— in organising commissariat and other depart-
ments, transporting troops to various centres,
and arranging the thousand and one details
which, unless carefully- attended to, would render
the bravest army helpless.

But during the months of April, May, and
June the absence of any organised body of
opponents in the field allowed much telling work
to be done by small parties of Southern soldiers.
Unfortunately for the North, Washington, the
capital of the Union, was to all intents and pur-
poses within the sphere of Southern influence —
on the one side the State of Virginia, among
the first States to refuse troops to Abraham
Lincoln, and on the other, Mar34and, riotous
and to all appearances likely to cast in her lot
with the rebel States. Federal soldiers on their
way to guard the capital were shot and trampled
to death in the streets of Baltimore, Maryland,
but a few miles north Irom Washington. On the
same day the railway bridges of lines running

THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN.

northward were destroyed, thus completeh'
cutting Washington off from the North. To
complete the dangerous position of the capital,
a force of Confederate soldiers seized Harper's
Ferry — the Harper's Ferry of John Brown
notoriety — then a famous national arsenal, and
there established a Southern camp. Next the im-
portant navy yard at Gosport, after the officers
in charge had attempted to destroy it by fire,
was captured by Southerners ; and a number

points fordable. A short distance south of Bui!
Run is Manassas Junction — a railway junction
— and here General Beauregard had his head-
quarters.

Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard, born in
1818, was a native of Louisiana, and passed
through the United States Military Academy at
West Point. Strangely enough, one of his
class-mates at the Academy was the Federal
general McDowell, who at this battle of Bull

'THEY WOULD NOT KEEP IN RANK, ORDER AS MUCH AS YOU PI EASED" (/. 93)

of other important points bearing on the capital
city falling into the hands of the Confeder-
ates, Washington was surrounded. The battle
of Bull Run was brought on bv the North
with the intention of relieving the capital of
the Union by dispersing the enemies that
surrounded it.

Bull Run, the stream that gave its name to
the battle, is a sluggish, uneven waterway run-
ning in a south-easterly direction, and at the
point where the engagement took place some
five-and-thirty miles from Washington. Its
banks are steep and at some places rocky, with
heights, densely wooded, on its western shore,
and the stream itself deep and sullen, yet at

Run commanded the Northern forces. Beau-
regard had served through the Mexican campaign
with distinction, taking part in the siege opera-
tions at Vera Cruz, and at Mexico he was twice
wounded. To him fell the distinction of being
chosen to open the war for the South, and it
was he who bombarded and finally captured
Fort Sumter.

General Beauregard had assembled a strong
force of Confederates at this point with the
evident intention of marching upon Washington,
but before he was ready to move on the capital,
a large armv of Northerners managed to reach
the city, and Beauregard found his plans defeated.
Consequently, he entrenched himself securely and

rattlp:s of the nineteenth century

\v?ated for the time to arrive when, sufficient
troops furnished him, he could carry out his
plan to capture the capital. The position for
encampment had been carefully chosen. Along
the western bank of Bull Run, from Manassas
Junccion to a stone bridge some eight miles up
stream, the Southern forces were posted, each
ford strongly guarded, the rocky banks and the
deep water forming a natural breastwork, and
the dense v/oods a natural stockade. Across
Bull Run, a few miles towards Washington, is
the village of Centreville, and here the advance
guards, or more pro-
perly, a scouting
party, was stationed
to give news of
any movement that
might be made by
the North ; and,
central and con-
venient, the head-
cjuarters at Manassas
commanded the
whole.

Woods, stream,
and rolling country
made General Beau-
regard's position a •
peculiarly strong one.
in fact, as General
McDowell, the com-
mander of the forces
of the North, soon
found, the posi-
tion was well-nigh
invulnerable. To at-
tack the Confeder-
ates in front, fording Bull Run, scaling the
high bank and charging into a wood, was out
of the question. Moreover, to strengthen
Beauregard's hands. General J. E. Johnston, a
soldier of energy and experience, was stationed
at Winchester, to which town he had retreated
from Harper's Ferry when he found himself
confronted by General Patterson. General Pat-
terson's orders from Washington were to retake
Harper's Ferry from General Johnston. But the
Southern general, fully convinced that Harper's
Ferry w-as of no strategical importance, and
more of a trap than anything else, fell back at
Patterson's approach, and entrenched himself at
Winchester. To the Federals the great danger
lay in the risk of Johnston by a forced march
joining Beauregard, and opposing a united
force to McDowell. To prevent this, General

FIRST BATTLE .

BULL RUN.

Earty*

^EVge^i,-- ^-••'' Southern
^S- • \\ Headquarters

POSITION OF THE FORCES AT NOON

Patterson's second orders were to hold Johnston
in Winchester. Patterson had plenty of men for
the purpose, but failed to do what was expected
of him. When the crucial moment arrived,
Johnston arrived with it and ruined McDowell's
chance of victory.

McDowell marched from Washington. It
had originally been General Scott's intention
to give the command of the Federal forces to
Robert E. Lee; but that officer, destined to
become the most famous general of the South,
resigned his position, and journeying south, took

charge of the raising
of Confederate sol-
diers. McDowell,
however, was an
officer in every way
competent to

worthily represent
the North.

A civil war makes
strange opponents.
Men hitherto the
closest friends, found
themselves divided,
friends still, but fac-
ing one another on
the field of battle,
and fighting to the
death for what each
considered the right.
This curious division
affected officers and
men alike. In fact,
a large majority of
the officers who, at
the outbreak of
hostilities found themselves in charge of the
newly-enlisted regiments, had been educated
together at West Point, and together received
their baptism of fire and learned what real
war meant under the sweltering sun of Mexico.
General Irvin McDowell, as has been told,
stood side by side with General Beauregard
at West Point, and side by side with him on
the battle-fields of Mexico. For some years he
acted as assistant-instructor in infantr}' tactics
in the Military Academy, and when war broke
out he was relieved of his duties in the Adjutant-
General's Department at Washington, and placed
in command of the Army of the Potomac, now
on its way to Bull Run.

When he set out from Washington he carried
with him full instructions and the confidence of
all concerned. Never was a battle more care-

Korthem anvy
Southern artftj-

THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN.

fully planned. Every move likely to take place
had been canvassed and discussed, President
Lincoln and General Scott giving their per-
sonal consideration and assistance to McDowell.
When the latter marched away at the head of
his 30,000 men, it was thought that he had
nothing to do but to act quickly and victory
must rest with him. General Sherman after-
wards said that Bull Run was one of the best
planned and one of the worst fought battles of
the Civil War.

On July 1 6th McDowell issued his orders to
march. J. G. Nicolay, vv'ho was private secretary
to Lincoln, gives this as the organisation of
McDowell's army : —

" First Division, commanded by Tyler : an
aggregate of 9,936 men, divided into four
brigades, respectively under Ke\'es, Schenck,
Sherman, and Richardson.

" Second Division, commanded by Hunter :
an aggregate of 2,648 men, divided into two
brigades, under Porter and Burnside.

" Third division, commanded b}' Heintzelman :
an aggregate of 9,777 men, divided into three
brigades, under Franklin, Wilcox, and Howard.

" Fourth Division, commanded by Runyon :
an aggregate of 5,752 men ; no brigade com-
manders.

" Fifth Division, commanded by Miles : an ag-
gregate of 6,207 men, divided into two brigades,
under Blenker and Davies.''

From these figures, it will be seen that Mc-
Dowell marched with more than 34,000 men.
But as Runyon's division was left to guard
communications, and as some days before the
fight a nvimber of the volunteers were mustered
out, their three months' time having expired,
defections left the Federal general in command
of something like 28,000 men to meet an equal
or larger number of Confederates, entrenched,
as we have seen, in a strong position, and fully
prepared for a stubborn fight.

When the news flashed across the length
and breadth of the great continent that at last
a Northern army was to attack the South, the
question on everybody's lips was " How will the
American fight ? " McDowell, in his army of
30,000, had but 800 regulars — the rest were
volunteers who had never been trained to war.
Raw, inexperienced, undisciplined, gathered from
the four corners of the continent : rugged bush-
men from the backwoods of Michigan, rough
and restless men, hunters born and bred every
one, marching side by side with workers from
the Pennsylvania mines and New York factory

hands ; carters from Philadelphia and Chicago,
farmers from Ohio and Illinois, clerks from
Buffalo and Boston, all untried and untrained,
having volunteered for what the most of them
looked upon as a jaunt and picnic in the South,
with, maybe, a little shooting by the way — all
trudged merrily along under the sweltering July
sun, joking and playing pranks as thev turned
their faces to the South, and paying but .small
heed to their oflficers' attempts to keep them in
order. McDowell, writing of this march to
Bull Run, tells many strange things. He says
that the advance was rendered tedioush" slow by
the " fooling '' of the men on the march. '* They
stopped every moment to pick blackberries or to
get water ; they would not keep in rank, order
as much as you pleased ; when they came where
water was fresh, they would pour the old water
out of their canteens, and fill them with fresh
water. They were not used to den^-ing them-
selves much ; they were not used to journeys on
foot." Before the long war was ended the
troops became very used indeed to denying
themselves much, and to weary journeys on
foot.

On Thursday, July i8th, Tyler, commanding
the first division, moved warilv on Centreville,
only to find that the Confederates stationed
there showed no disposition to fight, but that
they fell rapidly back towards Bull Run. Thi^:
being so, on towards Bull Run Tyler contmued
his march, his orders being to carefully observe
roads, positions, and lay of the land, but under
no circumstances to engage in battle. He was
to scout, to gather information for future use.
But Tyler's enthusiasm got the better of his
discretion, and, it is feared, caused him to forget
his orders. He had seen the Confederates retreat
before him from Centreville, as though fearing to
fight, and then a temptation was thrown in his
way in the shape of a favourable position for
a battery from which a few shells could be
dropped on the enemy. He planted a battery,
and fired on a Confederate battery still on the
Centreville side of Bull Run. The Southerners
retired to Blackburn's Ford, and Tvler threw
forward skirmishers against the Confederate
skirmishers, and these getting into a hot ex-
change, Tyler was soon forced to bring forward
a brigade, and then a second; and almost before
he knew what was happening he found his
batterv and his men in a trap. Before he
managed to bring away his battery and with-
draw his men, he lost close upon a hundred
killed, and his soldiers retired in confusion, the

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

officers chagrined over the first serious check of
the war.

But disastrous as was this the first skirmish
of Bull Run to the Northern cause, it on the
other hand exposed to General McDowell the
position of the Confederates, and showed to
him the hopelessness of an attack in front.
McDowell's first plan of battle, perfected at
Washington, was to make a vigorous attack
on Beauregard's front, and when this action
raged, to cross Bull Run lower down, and
while the Confederates
were concerned about
the safety of their van
to fall unexpectedly
upon Beauregard's right
and turn it. A personal
reconnaissance, made at
the moment of Tyler's
unfortunate experi-

ment, proved to
iMcDowell that this plan
could not be carried
out. The ground on
Beauregard's right was
totally unsuited to the
job. High hills, densely
wooded and strongly
held. rendered the
scheme clearly un-
feasible. Some other
plan must be devised.
He rode to Centreville
with all speed, and
there Tyler and his
officers reported rifle-
pits and strong barri-
cades, natural and arti-
ficial, in front of every ford, the one bridge span-
ning the stream strongly guarded and prepared
for blowing up if need be, and not the slightest
chance of his untrained soldiers carrying the
position. These reports convinced McDowell
that only a demonstration must be made in
front, and his whole energies applied to reaching
the southern side of Bull Run, and fighting the
battle across fields instead of across deep water,
Richardson's brigade was ordered forward to
continue the menace at Blackburn's Ford, and
the engineers were sent up stream to surve}'^
Bull Run for a ford. But a ford they were
unable to find until Saturday, and the battle of
Bull Run could not be fought before Sunday,
July 2 1st. A fatal delay this proved to be.
News of Tyler's engagement at Blackburn's

GENERAL SHERMAN.

Ford on the Thursda}- reached Johnston at
Winchester, and that energetic officer, seeing
that a general action must soon take place,
slipped away from the aged General Patterson,
and bv a forced march through Ashby's Gap of
the Blue Ridge, he took train at Piedmont and
marched most of his men into Beauregard's
camp on Saturday evening. One of his com-
panies, indeed, did not arrive until Sunday
afternoon, when by falling upon the Federals'
right, it gave the first intimation to McDowell
that Johnston had given
Patterson the slip.

A close, hot night
preceded the eventful
da}'. A mist, such as
is so often seen oh sul-
try nights in America,
hung over the valley of
Bull Run, blurring
ever3'thing into a grey,
indistinguishable mass,
notwithstanding that
the moon shone
brightly. Shortly after
midnight the Northern
arm}' bestirred itself to
begin the work that
lay before it. Tyler's
orders were to get
away early from Centre
ville and to commence
a hot attack on the
stone bridge, as if it
were McDowell's intent
to force his way across
the stream at that point.
As soon as Tyler and
his men cleared the camp at Centreville, Hunter
and Heintzelman were to march rapidly to the
ford which the engineers had located, cross, and
at the topmost speed consistent with a good
formation advance upon Beauregard's left, fall
upon the rear of the defenders of the stone
bridge and clear them away, and so allow Tyler
to cross and join forces. McDowell hoped in
this way not only to disorganise the Con-
federate arrangements, but also to prevent any
chance of Johnston from Winchester joining
Beauregard. He had no idea that Johnston
had already eflFected the juncture. The Northern
men. new to war, turned but drowsily from
their sleep. It was night, and, tmvised to the
necessity of quick and silent action, the m.en de-
layed and refused to be hurried. Consequently,

THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN.

before Tyler had got his men out of the way
of Hunter, the hour for moving had long
since passed. Tyler intended to attack the
stone bridge at four in the morning. It was
not nntil six that he fired his first gun. Hunter
and' Heintzelman were proportionately delayed.

Johnston's wits had been sharpened to a wonder-
ful degree by his border experiences. He suffered
desperate wounds at Cerro Gordo, and again
at Chapultepec, was particularly active at Vera
Cruz and in half-a-dozen battles in Mexico, and
at the very outbreak of the Civil War captured

"TIME AFTER TIME THE ATrtMPT TO SCALE THE HEIUnT WAS MADE" (/. 99)-

Strange to tell, it was Johnston's intention
to attack McDowell that very morning. This
General Joseph Eggleston Johnston— Beaure-
gard's superior in rank, and an oflficer of energy,
foresight, and initiative, fifty-four years old —
besides having served through the war with
Mexico, had seen much fighting with the Red
Indians in many parts of America ; and, as never
were trickier fighters alive than the Red men.

Harper's Ferry. In withdrawing his forces
from Winchester to Bull Run— successfully out-
witting General Patterson— he gave early proof
of his skill in handling large bodies of men and
readiness in rising to the occasion. He and
Beauregard had planned on Saturday night to
bring about a battle before it would be pos-
sible for General Patterson from Harper's Ferry
to join with McDowell, which, Johnston felt

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

convinced, Patterson would hasten to do when
he found that the Confederates had marched
away from him. Johnston had already given
the orders for an attack on McDowell, when
the guns thundered out from the stone bridge.
Instantly General Johnston countermanded the
order to advance. As McDowell had begun the
attack, it were better to fight the battle with all
the advantages Bull Run gave to the South.
He awaited developments.

Colonel Evans held the stone bridge for the
Confederates. He had with him, behind the
timber abattis, a regiment and a half and four
guns ; and when Tyler opened fire it seemed to
him that a determined attempt would be made
to force his position, and he prepared to hold it
at all hazards. But after the fighting had lasted
a short time, it occurred to Evans that the
attack was conducted with nothing like the
vigour he would have expected under the cir-
cumstances, and he cast about him for an
explanation. An e.K^planation was not long in
coming. Scouts hurrying from the wood to
his left told him that a large force of men had
forded Bull Run some miles above the stone
bridge and were marching to fall upon his rear.
Without a moment's hesitation, and waiting for
no orders, Evans, leaving four companies with
two guns to hold the bridge, posted the re-
mainder of his men in as favourable a position
to resist attack as he could come upon in the
limited time at his disposal. When Hunter
emerged from the wood, at ten o'clock in the
morning, he found that his advance had been
made known, and that there was now no chance
of taking the Confederates by surprise.

First began an artillery duel. The sound of
guns on his side of Bull Run told Johnston
that the Federals had crossed the stream and
had attacked his left. He hurried General Bee
with four regiments and two companies to the
support of Evans, already sorely pressed. Next
Heintzelman, having now safely crossed the
stream, came at the double-quick with a regi-
ment to the assistance of Hunter, and joining
forces, bore down upon the^Southern lines. The
front of battle at once changed from Bull Run
stream to what had been the Confederates' left.

And now began the battle proper. The men
who, a few hours before had refused discipline
and disregarded orders from whatever quarter
given, at last, within shot of the enemy, faced
the situation seriously and fought well. With
now the advantage of position and numbers, the
men from the North drove the Southerners

steadily down the hill, the Confederates fighting
every inch of the way with that fiery courage
that distinguished them all through the war.
Every fence, house, and wood, every hillock,
every stone on the wa\-, every hollow and every
ditch, was made a standing-place by the South,
and tenaciously held to as long as mortal could
endure the hail of bullets and crash of cannon-
ball. But the Federals fought splendidly, and
carried position after position with the courage
and dash of veterans. McDowell, coming upon
the scene of action at this point, hurried word
to Tyler to press his attack upon the stone
bridge. This Tyler did not do, but instead,
fording Bull Run a short distance above the
bridge, came upon the rear of the defenders and
swept them away from their stronghold. Then,
marching towards the sound of the fighting, he
safely joined his commander-in-chief. At noon
McDowell had the satisfaction of knowing that
not a hitch had taken place in his plans. The
bridge had been cleared, the Confederates' left
turned, and his men had driven the enemj- down
the hill-side, over a creek, across the valley, and
up into a wood. The morning's work was all
the North could desire. Everything pointed to
a Northern victory, full and complete.

Johnston and Beauregard now found a difficult
task before them. Their men, numbers of them
thinking all lost, were hurrying to the rear in
dire confusion, throwing awa}' their arms and
accoutrements as they ran. Many companies
were entirely disorganised, and others cut to
pieces in the fight. But the two Southern
generals, riding to the front, personally super-
vised the re-formation of the lines. On top of
the hills up which the Confederates had been
forced was a large plateau, thickly wooded, and
on this plateau the generals checked the re-
treat, and swung their disorganised regiments
into line. Early's Brigade formed the left flank,
and faced Wilcox and Porter, Elzey's fronted
Sherman, and Hampton lay nearest to Bull
Run. The Confederate position for the renewal
of the fight was clearly a strong one. Down in
the valley lay the Federals. To reach the
Southerners, they must charge up a hill and into
a dense wood. This proved altogether too diffi-
cult a task. Sherman said afterwards that had
McDowell ignored the partially defeated and
strongly entrenched army of the South, and, in
stead of attempting to carry the plateau, marched
around the hill and captured the enemy's head-
quarters, Manassas Junction, the Southerners
would have been defeated by the very act. But

The first battle of bull run.

pr jbably neither McDowell nor Sherman thought
of this at the time. The order was to further
rout the apparently routed, and the Federals
dashed themselves to pieces in the attempt.
When Johnston and Beauregard got their men
ready, the latter took personal command, and
Johnston — superior in rank— hastened to head-
quarters to superintend the whole.

The battle of the afternoon was a battle of
hopeless confusion. No two on the Federal side
could afterwards agree as to what had taken
place. The want of cohesion, of discipline ; the
rawness of the troops,
the ignorance and lack
of executive ability on
the part of the officers,
added to the disad-
vantageous position,
soon brought the army
of the North into a
state of helpless chaos'.
The Confederates,
strongl}' situated, lay
quietly in the wood
firing grimly d,own the
hill. When the Nor-
therners were first or-
dered to charge, they
did so with determina-
tion ; but scarcely had
they advanced a few
hundred feet than they
came under an appall-
ing fire, volley after
volley sweeping down
the steep incline. Time
after time the attempt
to scale the height was

made ; and the right did at one time gain a
footing, but to no purpose. It was a hopeless
task from the first.

In the woods on top of the plateau lay Thomas
Jonathan Jackson and his men. Jackson was of
English descent, and having been left an orphan
at seven, he grew to manhood on a rough farm
in Western Virginia, joined the army, fought
in Mexico, and after teaching school was with
Johnston at Harper's Ferry. Jackson's brigade
was the first to get into position and check the
advance of the Federals, the panic-stricken
Southerners rallving upon his line. During the
crisis, General Bee, rall3-ing his men, shouted :
" See ; there is Jackson, standing like a stone
wall. Rally on the Virginians." Immediately
afterwards General Bee wa= shot dead ; but the

nickname " Stonewall " stuck to Jackson, and
became probably the most familiar nickname of
the war.

To the Confederate left stood Henry House.
Built on a knoll, it commanded the whole field
of action, and here McDowell deemed it im-
portant to plant a battery. To this ground two
batteries were sent, and Ellsworth's Zouaves
ordered to support them. In making their way
to the position the officers of the Zouaves mis-
took an Alabama regiment for a Northern one,
and did not find out their mistake until they
had exposed their men
to a fire that wiped the
regiment out of exist-
ence. Another and
another regiment was
sent to the support of
the battery, and the
battle raged its wildest
around the knoll at
Henry House. Keyes,
on the right, after a
successful charge was
driven back, Sherman
in the centre charged
again and again up the
hill, each charge only
resulting in a heavier
loss, and the batteries
at Henry House were
taken and retaken time
and time again. As the
afternoon grew older,
confusion gradually

settled on the Northern
lines. Companies beaten
back from the brow
of the hill got mixed with companies charg-
ing up the hill ; men lost their officers and
officers their companies, until after a few hours'
fighting all was confusion, and the Northern
arm}', victorious as it seemed a little earlier in
the day, degenerated into a mob of struggling
men, into which the South continued to pour
a merciless fire.

Just when the army had been reduced to this
pitiable state of confusion, a body of close upon
two thousand fresh men came hurrying across
the fields to take part in the conflict. They
were the last arrivals from Winchester, Johnston's
men, who hearing the roar of battle, stopped
their train at the nearest point to the scene of
action, and running as fast as legs could carry
poured a volley into the Federals' right. This

STONEWALL JACKSON.

100

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY-

proved to be the last straw. Raising the cry :
*' Here's Johnston from the valley ! " the army of
the North broke and fled panic-stricken across
Bull Run, along the turnpike to Centreville
and on to Washington, to let the President and
the people of the North know that an appalling

while the Southern loss was 387 killed and 1,582
wounded.

Public opinion held General McDowell re-
sponsible for the crushing defeat, and as a con-
sequence he was superseded in his command by
General McClellan ; and although a capable and

"the army of the north broke and fled panic-stricken."

di-saster had befallen the Federal cause. General
McDowell tried his utmost to stay the flight, but
to no purpose. It was every man for himself,
and never was rout more complete.

When the sum of battle came to be reckoned,
it was found that the North had 481 men killed,
1,011 men wounded, and 1,461 taken prisoners ;

honourable officer, he played no great part in
the subsequent events of the war. The firs'
battle of Bull Run brought the seriousness ol
the situation vividly to the minds of the people
of the North, and showed how fatally the
position had been underestimated by everj-one
from President to peasant.

lOI

IN the early days of July, 1877, the soldiers
of the Tzar were jubilant. So early as
April Russian army-corps after armv-corps
had come tramping across the Pruth into
Roumania, and in May the Danubian Princi-
palities swarmed with sturdy .Russian soldiers
along the left bank of the great river, from
Galatz on the east to Kalafat on the west. They
gazed eagerlv across the brown water of the
Danube to the precipitous Bulgarian bank on the
further side, but had to wait impatienth' until the
falling of the river gave them the opportunity
for which they craved so ardently. At length,
however, thev had effected the crossing of the
Danube from Simnitza to Sistova and from
Braila to Matchin, and the whole Russian armv
was now on Turkish soil. Bv the middle of
the month Gourko was beyond the Balkans on
that adventurous raid of his which spread panic
from Hankioj to Constantinople. " Hey for
Adrianople ! '' was the hilarious and confident
shout, as army-corps after army-corps started
on the enterprise which seemed so ridiculously
easy. Princes and staff-officers betted with each
other in hundreds of dingy paper-roubles as to
the day on which they would dine in Stamboul.
The route which the main advance over the
Balkans was to take was by Tirnova and the
Shipka Pass, and thence on Adrianople through
the rose-gardens of Kazanlik and down the
beautiful valley of the Tundja. Two corps had
been sent to the left to protect the advance from
the Turks holding the Bulgarian quadrilateral.
Old Kriidener, the chief of the qth Corps, had
been sent off to the right, with the air}- order to
storm the fortress of Nicopolis and then to march
to the Balkans without delay, leaving as he passed
detachments in Plevna and Loftcha for the
protection of the right wing, and to cross the
great range into Roumelia by the Trajan Pass.
" Grandfather" Kriidener, grimmest and toughest

of warriors, began handsomely. He i-o smothered
with shell-fire the obsolete and crumbling fortress
of Nicopolis, that after two days" endurance of the
Russian cannonade the garrison capitulated. It
was quick work, and there were not wanting
hints that he had backed his shell-fire by a bribe
to the pasha in command. Anyhow, Kriidener
scored, when on the 17th there surrendered to
him 7,000 men, including the pasha — the cost of
the triumph 1,300 Russians killed and wounded,
and the trophies of it, among other things, six
flags and no guns.

FIRST BATTLE OF PLEVXA, JULV 20TH.

Ne.Kt day the Grand Duke Nicolas tele-
graphed to Kriidener to " occupy Plevna as
promptly as possible." That smart old warrior
had anticipated this order by pushing out to-
wards Plevna, which is about twenty miles
south-east of Nicopolis, an infantrv regiment and
the brigade of Caucasian Cossacks, and on the
same day moved out General Schilder-Schuldner
with an infantrv brigade. In all this there was
no apprehension in regard to Plevna ; the order
and movements just mentioned were simply in
the line of fulfilment of the original instructions
that Kriidener should hasten to cross the
Balkans by the Trajan Pass.

But no Russian troops were to enter Plevna
for six long months to come. 0.-man Pasha,
whose fame was soon to ring through Europe,
was on the march down the Bulgarian bank of
the Danube from Widdin, with an army of
40,000 of the best troops in Turkev. Learning
that the Russians had already crossed the Danube,
he had turned inland, reached Plevna on the
17th, and, recognising the strategical and de-
fensive characteristics of the place and its imme-
diate surroundings, settled himself there, and
promptly set about throwing up a line of

102

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

Second battle of PLEVNA

JULY 30 1877.

entrenchments along the northern ridge from
the village of Bukova eastward to the site of
the subsequently famous Grivitza redoubt.

In utter ignorance that Plevna was already
in Osman's occupation, Schilder-Schuldner ad-
vanced in its direction without the commonest
precautions. He made no reconnaissances, for
he had no cavalry with his main body ; and the
result of this stupid neglect was that, as he was
unconcernedly crossing the Verbitza heights, he
was suddenly halted by Turkish artillery fire
from the Grivitza ridge. He had already sent
the Kostroma regi-
ment eastward to
Zgalevitza, and the
Caucasian brigade to
Tutchenitza, actually
south-east of Plevna.
The disposal of his
little force by Schil-
der-Schuldner for the
night of the 19th
July was a lively in-
stance of an almost
comic inability how
to make war. His
troops — 6,500 men
all told, with forty
six guns — were dis-
tributed over a dis-
tance of seventeen
miles. Osman Pasha
must have smiled as
he posted his 40,000
men and ninety
guns in the shelter-
trenches and battery-emplacements with which
his northern and eastern front was already
garnished. Schilder-Schuldner scouted the sug-
gestion that he should wait for reinforcements.
No ! He had his orders to attack on the morn-
ing of the 20th ; he had always obeyed orders,
and he meant to do so now !

Accordingly, at da^-break of that morning, he
moved forward from Riben, three batteries in the
centre, a regiment on either flank. After an
hour's cannonade, the troops moved forward
and assailed the Grivitza heights. The western
extremity of the trenches was carried after a
desperate struggle, in which both sides freely
used the bayonet. The Vologda regiment, with
part of the Archangel regiment on its left, not-
withstanding a withering fire from the Turkish
shelter-trenches, was able to continue the
advance ; and, after repelling a succession of

Verbitza

Brestovetz

PLEVNA: THE rOSlTION OF THE RUS3I.A.NS.

attacks made by Turkish battalions, the W-
ogdas and Archangels fought their way to the
northern outskirts of Plevna, where, at seven
o'clock, they were brought to a halt by a very
hot fire from behind the hedges and ditches on
the edge of the town. They nevertheless hung
on here for some hours, fighting hard and losing
heavily, until about eleven o'clock they received
the order to withdraw.

The Kostroma regiment, coming from Zgale-
vitza, advanced from the south-east on the
Grivitza position, where the subsequently famous

redoubt had as yet
scarcely been traced,
and after a short
cannonade delivered
its assault in columns
of companies. Over
and over again the
successive tiers of
trenches were taken
and retaken at the
point of the bayonet
and with cruel
slaughter. A mo-
ment's hesitation in
front of the last and
strongest line of de-
fence ended in the
breaking up of the
regiment into small
columns of attack.
The lines of those
columns were strewn
with dead and
wounded, and all
the superior officers went down. There was,
therefore, no one who could order a retreat,
and the troops charged forward under the com-
mand of a simple lieutenant, and finally carried
the last Turkish entrenchment. They then
chased the Turks right up to the edge of the
town, where the latter found prepared positions
in the gardens and houses of the eastern suburb,
whence a cross-fire of artillery caused terrible
losses in the Kostroma ranks. These losses, the
e.xhaustion of ammunition, and the lack of reserves
compelled its reluctant retreat, which was fol-
lowed by heavy swarms of Turkish skirmishers
and by volley after volley of artillery.

The Russian troops had been engaged to the last
man for hours, and were worn out with their exer-
tions. A general retreat was, therefore, wisely
ordered at about i>oon ; but in effecting it heaw
losses were sustained b}' the sallies made by the

THE JULY BATTLES BEFORE PLEVNA.

Turks, who, however, did not pursue beyond
their trenches. The Russians left on the field
all their dead and most of their wounded, as well
as two guns, twent\- ammunition waggons, and
all the baggage of the Kostroma regiment. Their
losses were close on 3,000 men ; nearly two-
thirds of the officers and over one-third of the
men were hors de combat. There are no data
from which to estimate the Turkish loss. The
Russians reckoned it about 4,000 ; the Swiss
writer Le Compte calls it "about 200" — a wide
discrepancy indeed. The Russian army was
furious against Schilder-
Schuldner, and there was
a great clamour for a court-
martial ; but he was not
even called upon to resign,
and he blundered cheer-
fully along to the very
end of the campaign.
There is no need to point
out his faults and errors.
Without having learned
anything about the
strength or position of the
enemy, and with no re-
serves, he sent his troops
blindly to the assault in
two lines which had no
communication with each
other, and against an
enemy more than four
times their own strength.
He had the doubtful and
dangerous virtue of act-
ing on his orders to their

very letter. True, that is one way of avoiding
responsibility.

THE SECOND BATTLE OF PLEVNA, JULY 30TH.

The Grand Duke Nicolas, commander-in-
chief of the Russian armies in Bulgaria, was an
obstinate and narrow-minded man. He would
not believe that the Turks were in force in
Plevna, notwithstanding the crushing defeat
which Schilder-Schuldner had received on July
20th. He would not take the trouble to come
down from Tirnova to the Plevna front, con-
tenting himself with ordering Kriidener to make
a renewed attack on Plevna with his own corps
(the 9th), strengthened by the addition of an
infantry and a cavalry brigade from the nth
corps, under the command of Lieutenant -General
Prince Schahofskoy, and of the 30th division
(4th corps), which had just crossed the Danube.

GRAND DUKE NICOLAS

103

Krudener had reconnoitred the Plevna position
with great care ; and on account of its natural
strength and the force of the enemy, which he
estimated at not less than 50,000 men, he did
not at all fancy the task laid upon him. He had
even ventured to remonstrate against the risk
of failure which he apprehended ; but he re-
ceived a peremptory and even angry order from
the Grand Duke to obey orders without delay,
and not bother the headquarters with any more
querulous croaking. Kriidener now became
furious ; he had the lull belief that with 30,000
men in the open field
against 50,000 in a strong
fortified position, he was
bound to be beaten disas-
trously, a belief which the
event justified — but he
was resolved to put in his
last man, and as regarded
himself he would rather
prefer that he did not
come out of the business
alive. Throughout the
Russian camp there was
little of that excitement
of anticipation which had
been manifest on the even-
ing before the crossing of
the Danube. The Russian
officer, subject of a despot
though he is, has a habit
of speaking his mind ; and
on the eve of this battle
the ears of the Grand Duke
Nicolas would have tingled
had he heard the comments made upon him.
Meanwhile the Turks were working with the
utmost diligence upon their fortifications, con-
fident that they would be again attacked in
the course of a few days. By the 30th, the
da\' of the battle, the Grivitza redoubt and four
redoubts of the " middle group " east of Plevna
were in condition for defence.

Krudener was in chief command of the assail-
ing forces. His orders for the 30th were that
the troops of his own corps, forming the right
wing, should advance to the attack of the
Grivitza redoubt and the adjacent positions on
the northern heights, the 31st division to lead,
the 5th to follow in support ; and that the
left wing under Schahofskoy, consisting of
two infantry brigades, should occupy the
Radischevo ridge to the south-east of Plevna,
and assail the redoubts of the ''middle group"

J 04

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

on the lower swell, due east of the town.
Kriidener's whole army was a little over 30,000
men, consisting of 36 battalions, 30 squadrons,
and 176 guns; of which 24 battalions, no
guns, and 10 squadrons belonged to his own
(the right) wing, 11 battalions, 54 guns, and
8 squadrons constituted Schahofskoy's (the left)
wing, and i battalion, 12 guns, and 12 squadrons
was Skobeleff's detached command on the ex-
treme left. The main fault of the dispositions

valley running north and south, in the centre of
which lay the town of Plevna, its white mina-
rets, on which the sun was shining, visible above
the encircling trees. On the long ridge forming
the northern section of the horse-shoe were
discernible the tents of the Turkish camps, and
on its nearer shoulder lay the Grivit^a redoubt^
of which later the world was to hear so much.
Now it did not seem very formidable — merely a
rough parallelogram — all of defence visible being

' at'--- ' *" ^ "

"THE GENERAL HAD RISEN, AND WAS STANDING AGAINST A TREE" (/. 1C6).

was that Kriidener and Schahofskoy were prac-
tically independent of each other, so that the two
attacks were far apart and with no connecting
link ; but the gravest evil was the weakness
of the assailing force. The key of the Turkish
position was the Grivitza redoubt.

Schahofskoy's advance from Poradim began
at 6 a.m. As the infantry went swinging past
their general, they cheered vigorously, and
seemed ready for anything. After a two-hours'
march the head of the column reached the
upland in front of Pelischat, whence the whole
Plevna region lay before it. The headquarter
stood temporarily halted near the apex of a great
horse-shoe, closed in at the heel by a wooded

a bank of earth with a ditch at its outer foot, a
few guns here and there, and a good many Turks
inside the work. To his left front, as Schahofskoy
looked toward Plevna, he saw the long ridge of
Radischevo, forming the southern edge of the
horse-shoe, and the valley behind it into which
his advance troops were already moving.

Some of the gay young officers of Schahof-
skoy's staff would have it that slow old Kriidener
had not yet got out of bed. But the old
warrior was wide awake and Avell to the front.
About 9 a.m. the Turkish guns opened fire on
him from the Grivitza redoubt. Answering
smoke rose to the eastward, and the cannon
thunder came booming down on the wind.

^THEN THERE FOLLOWED A HEADLONG RUSH' (A 107X

I05

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

Kriidener's guns were in action, playing fiercely
on the Grivitza redoubt. The artillery duel be-
tween the Turks and Kriidener lasted until after
two p.m. Then the" Russian, infantry were sent
forward to the attack. The brave Penza regiment
led the way. Its first battalion carried the first
line of trenches, a thousand yards north east of
the redoubt ; the second line was carried by the
second battalion, and the two battalions drove the
Turks at the bayonet point across the intervening
ravine, when three companies made a rush for
the redoubt and actually reached the parapet,
where, however, all perished. In a few minutes,
so fierce was the Turkish fire, the three Penza
battalions lost thirty officers and i,oo6 men —
half their officers and rnore than one-third of the
men. Officers of the two regiments in reserve,
looking thro'ugh their telescopes, swore that they
saw the blood of the Penzas flowing in streams
down the outer face of the parapet of the
Turkish redoubt. The Kosloff regiment followed
the Penzas up to the second line, and a few men
of it did reach the redoubt, but only to meet
their death. Then the supports, consisting of
the 17th and i8th regiments, made their effort,
only to fail ; the bitter and steadfast rifle from
the redoubt struck them down by ranks. The
left column, the Tamboff" and Galitz regiments,
tried to storm the southern face of the redoubt,
but only filled with their dead bodies the out-
lying trenches. At sundown the stubborn
Kriidener gave orders for a final general assault.
It was made with such desperation that a general
officer was killed within a few paces of the re-
doubt ; but the attack utterly failed with terrible
slaughter. Then Kriidener gave the order to
retire ; but so maddened were the troops that
the fighting lasted all night, and the withdrawal
was not completed till after daybreak of the
31st. In fine, the attack of the right wing
had been an utter and bloody failure.

On the left wing, about ten a.m., Schahofskoy
sent twenty-eight guns up on to the crest of the
Radischevo ridge, which promptly opened fire
on the Turkish positions of the " middle group,"
whence a fire was as promptly returned. The
infantrv moved forward into the valley in rear
and into the glades about the village of Radis-
chevo, about which were falling many Turkish
shells which had flown over the ridge crowned
by the Russian artillery. It was strange to
witness the peasant villagers standing in scared
groups in front of their cottages, shuddering as
the shells crashed into the place, while the child-
ren were pla3-ing about the dust heaps without

any sense of their danger. A couple of corre-
spondents, leaving their horses in the village,
went up to the storm-swept crest where the
Russian batteries were in action, and lay down
between two guns to watch the scene. From
their point of vantage they looked right down
into the Turkish positions. Several guns in an
earthwork (Redoubt No. i) about a hamlet or
farmhouse, which seemed the most advanced of
the Turkish works on the central elevation, were
vigorously replying to the Russian fire. On its
right were three more redoubts reaching back-
ward to the edge of the valley in which the
roofs and spires of Plevna sparkled in the sun-
shine from out the cincture of verdure. The
place seemed so near that a short ride might
bring one there to a sorely needed breakfast ;
but thousands of men were to die and many
months were to elapse before Plevna should
be accessible to others than Turks. As the
watchers lay by the guns men were falling fast
around them ; for the elevated position was
greatly exposed and the Turkish practice was
most uncomfortably true.

Two o'clock came. Schahofskoy rode up the
slope from the village to see for himself from
the crest how things were going. As he reached
the sky line the Turks marked the mounted
group, and a volley of shell-fire was directed
upon it. Schahofsko}' promptly rolled out of
the saddle and crept forward to where the two
correspondents were squatting. His eyes were
blazing and his face was flushed, as he swore
most vigorously in the colloquial Russian of the
common soldier. He looked at his watch ; it
was a few minutes past two. Kriidener seemed,
after all these long hours, to be making no
headway. Schahofskoy in his injpatience threw
his orders to the wind and determined to act
independently. He turned to his Chief of Staff
and shouted, ''Bring up the 125th and 126th
regiments at once ! Quick ! " These were his
own two regiments which had accompanied him
from the foot of the Balkans. General TchekofiF,
the brio-ade commander, came up the slope at
a canter and told the Prince the two regiments
were following close. They came up with swift
swinging stride and deployed just before reaching
the crest, breaking to pass through the intervals
between the guns. The General had risen, and
was standing against a tree saluting his soldiers as
they streamed past him. His guns recommenced
firing as soon as the infantrymen were descending
the further slope, and continued their fire while
the regiments were crossing the intervening

THE JULY BATTLES BEFORE PLEVNA.

107

hollow to the assault of the Turkish positions.
The Turkish shells crashed through the ranks as
the regiments pressed forward ; men were already
down in numbers, but the long, undulating line
pushed through the undergrowth of the descent
and then tramped steadily over the stubble-
fields below. No skirmishing line was thrown
out in advance. The fighting line retained its
formation for a time till, what with eagerness and
what with men falling, it broke into a ragged
spray of humanity and surged on swiftly, but
with no close cohesion. It was a rush of vehe-
ment fighting-men on which the spectators looked
down with eyes intent — a helter-skelter of men
impelled by a burning ardour to get forward and
come to close quarters with the enemy calml}-
firing upon them from behind the shelter of his
earthworks. The Turkish position was neared ;
and now men held their breath. The crackle
of the musketry fire rose in a sharp continuous
peal. The clamour of the cheering of the
fighting-men came back on the wind, making
the blood tingle with excitement. The wounded
were beginning to withdraw, limping and groan-
ing ; the dead and the more severely wounded
lay where they fell among the stubbles and
amidst the maize. The living wave of fighting-
men was pouring over them ever on and on.
Suddenly the disconnected men were drawing
together, the officers signalling for the concen-
tration by the waving of their swords. Then
there followed a headlong rush, led by a brave
colonel. The Turks in the shelter trench held
their ground, firing steadily and with terrible
effect into the advancing assailants. The colonel
staggered a few paces and then fell — he was a
dead man.

His men, bayonets at the charge, rushed to
avenge their gallant dead leader. They were
over the shelter trench and over the parapet,
and then down in among the Turks like an
avalanche. The first redoubt was thus taken ;
but the Turks had got away ten guns ; leaving
only two in Russian hands. The captured
redoubt was No. i, which had fallen to the 126th
regiment, the right regiment of Schahofskoy's
first line. His left regiment, the 125th, was ad-
vancing simultaneously on Redoubt No. 8, about
midway between No. i and Plevna, but No. 8
was much the stronger, an isolated mamelon with
batteries on the rearward slope. Schahofskoy
sent forward to No. i two batteries and two
battalions, and a third battalion to strengthen
his left flank, and then he ordered both his front
line regiments to converge on redoubt No. 8

and to carry it, no matter at what cost. One
could see through the glass Turkish officers on
horseback standing behind its parapet and
watching the oncoming Russian forces. Pre-
sently two rode away at a gallop and immedi-
ately returned with a swarm of men on foot,
who clapped tackle on the guns in the redoubt
and withdrew them all before the Russians took
it. The capture at the last was curiously sudden.
All of a moment along the lip of the Turkish
parapet there was a final spurt of white smoke,
through which were visible dimly swarms of
dark-coated men scrambling over the ditch and
up the outer slope of the work. On the crest of
the parapet itself there was a short but sharp
struggle. Then through the telescope was seen
a crowd of men in lighter blue in apparent full
flight across the great stretch of vineyard behind
the redoubt.

The Russians, then, at about half-past five of
this bloody afternoon, had possessed themselves
of two of the Turkish redoubts, but their tenure
was very precarious. The Turks had not fled
far from the second redoubt, about the northern
and western faces of which they hung obstinately,
while their cannon from further rearward dropped
shell after shell into it with extraordinary precision.
Schahofskoy sent forward eight guns to an inter-
mediate knoll, to cover the troops in the redoubt
and cope with the Turkish artillery fire which
was punishing them so severely ; but about six
o'clock the Turks pressed forward a strong body
of infantry to its recapture. The defence was
stubborn, but the Moslems were not to be denied ;
and in spite of the stubborn Russian resistance,
they reoccupied the redoubt half an hour later.
In the course of the original advance on it, part
of the troops of Schahofskoy's left had penetrated
by a ravine up to near the south-eastern verge of
Plevna. From the first, this body was very hard
pressed by fresh Turkish reserves issuing ft-om
the town. The Russians, bent on entering the
place, charged again and again till they could
charge no more for sheer fatigue ; and then
the stubborn, gallant fellows stood leaderless — for
nearly all the officers were down — sternly wait-
ing death there for want of leaders to march
them back. To their help Schahofskoy sent in
succession the two battalions which were his last
reserve ; but all that these could do was to main-
tain a front with cruel losses, until the darkness
would permit of a retirement to the Radischevo
ridge. The ammunition had failed, for the carts
had been left far in the rear ; and all hope died
out of the most sanguine as the sun sank in lurid

io8

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

glory behind the blood-stained and smoke-
mantled field.

Then the Turks struck without stint. They
had the upper hand now, and were clearly deter-
mined to show that they knew how to make the
most of it. Through the dusk they advanced in
swarms into their original first positions, and
recaptured their two guns which the Russians
had taken in their first assault, but which they

The Russian defeat was complete. The re-
mains of the army came sullenly back, companies
that had gone down hundreds strong returning
by tens and twenties. For three hours there
had been a steady current of wounded men up
from out of the battle to the reverse slope of the
Radischevo ridge, to which Schahofskoy still
held on grimlv. All round, the air was heavy
with the moaning of the wounded who had cast

"THEY GATHERED TO THE SOUND

had tound no opportunity to withdraw. Turkish
shells now again began to whistle and yell over
the Radischevo ridge, and to crash into the village
behind, by this time crammed with wounded
men. The streams of wounded were incessant.
The badly-wounded lay where they fell, and
were butchered ruthlessly by the Turkish ir-
regulars, who swarmed over the battle-field and
slaughtered indiscriminately. The moon rose on
their bloodthirst}- devilr}^ ; and in the hot, still
night-air one could hear — and shuddered in the
hearing — the shrieks of pain, the futile entreaties
for mercy, and the yells of cruel, fanatical
triumph.

themselves down by the fountain at the foot of
the slope, craving with a pitiful longing for a few
drops of the scanty water. In this awful hour
Schahofskoy 's attitude was admirable : now that
the day was lost beyond remedy, he was cool and
collected. To protect his wounded, and rally
what remained of his force, he was determined
to hold the ridge to the last eitremity. He
ordered his bugle to sound the "Assembly."
Thev gathered to the sound, singly and by twos
and threes, many bleeding from flesh-w^ounds,
yet willing still to fight on. But it appeared
scarcely a company that came together ; it
seemed as if the rest of the army was quite

THE JULY BATTLES BEFORE PLEVNA.

109

dispersed. Schahofckoy was loth to fall back, for
he still hoped that belated troops would come
back out of the valley of the shadow of death
down below him ; but he was disappointed.
Meanwhile, as the ambulance work was going on
apace, and the wounded withdrawn into the com-
parative safety of the village in the valley behind,
the Turks continued to pour on the ridge a
heavy fire of shells and bullets. At length, near
midnight, Schahofskoy and his staff quitted the
front, now protected, after a fashion, by a cordon
of cavalry. As the forlorn cortege rode slowly
away in the moonlight, an aide-de-camp remarked
in an undertone to his neighbour : " We are
following a general who has lost his army going
in search of an army which has lost its general,
who now, to make the day's loss complete, has
lost his way." It was a miserable business.

But it was in a measure retrieved by the con-
duct of SkobelefF. His orders were to prevent
any reinforcement from Loftcha from entering
Plevna, and in general to cover the extreme left
flank of Schahofskoy. For this wide range of
duty he had at his disposal one infantry battalion,
twelve squadrons of Caucasian Cossacks, and
twelve 4-pounder horse-guns. His first undertak-
ing was to make a reconnaissance on Plevna from
the south-west, till he looked down on the place
from a height within three hundred yards of it.
When Schahofskoy began his cannonade on the
redoubts, Skobeleff opened fire on the town, and
drew upon himself a large body of Osman's forces.
When attacked in strength he, of course, had to
withdraw to his main force at Krishin ; but he

discovered that, from a hill two miles south of
Plevna the Turks could enfilade Schahofskoy's
line, and take his advance in reverse. To hinder
the enemy from occupying this point he resolved
to attack energetically ; and he was able, by dint
of skill and dexterity, to keep up an active fight
throughout the day and on until after nightfall,
and also to remove all his wounded. After dark,
he made good his retreat to Krishin, and re-
assembled there what remained of his little
command. He had not spared it, for fifty
per cent, was hors de combat. But he had
gained his object in keeping the Turks away
from the Green Hill, from which, had they
occupied it, they would have cut Schahofskoy's
force to pieces.

The Russian losses were 169 oflficers and 7,136
men, out of a total of 30,000 engaged. Of this
number, 2,400 were killed and left on the field.
One of Schahofskoy's regiments (the 126th)
had 725 killed and over 1,200 wounded— a total
loss of about 75 per cent, of its strength. Over
their respective responsibility, Kriidener and
Schahofskoy quarrelled bitterly. Schahofsko)<
complained that Kriidener had not supported
him. Kriidener retorted that Schahofskoy had
disobeyed his orders in assaulting without per-
mission. But the real responsibility for the
defeat rested on the shoulders of the Grand
Duke Nicolas, who had given peremptory orders
from a distance to attack a position of which he
knew nothing, and in the teeth of a remonstrance
on the part of a commanding-oflicer who had
carefully studied the subject.

'• ENVIRONS OF PLEVNA.

a, Pkvnr. ; b, Plevna Redoubt ; c, Giivitza Vill.ge ; d, G.ivit:a Redoubt ; e, Radischevo Ridge ; f, Balkan Mountains in distance.

J8.TIIBII.U

III III" Will ■■■ m il I i»iiiiii.»iiii — iiiin-nT rn:

^^<

THE JH^NOj4NI?I^TROL

T^^A

HEY were men of men, and their
fathers were men before them," were
the words of old Umjan, the chief
induna of the Imbezu Impi — Loben-
gula's Royal Regiment — as he described the
gallant stand of that handful of men under
Major Allan Wilson which was cut to pieces by
the Matabele, hard by the Shangani river, on
December 4th, 1893. Umjan, a full-blooded Zulu
warrior, who, as a stripling, had taken part in
the conquest of Matabeleland with Moselekatse's
raiding horde, led the force that slaughtered
Major Wilson's party, and the terms of keen
admiration which he employed when speaking of
those brave men but represented the feeling of his
whole people. That day's fight produced a deep
impression throughout the country. Till then
the Matabele were inclined to despise the white
men, and considered them weak and timorous.
True, the Matabele had been vanquished ; but
they argued that they had not been routed in
fair fight, but by the aid of witchcraft — by the
deadly fire of those invincible Maxims, which
spirits had manufactured for the white men ;
they boasted that without Maxims the white
men would never have had the heart to face the
valorous amajakas of Lobengula. But they
were undeceived by the brave doings of Decem-
ber 4th, v;hich cannot rightly be called a day
of disaster — valuable though were the lives we
lost — when it is remembered how glorious was
that gallant stand, how far-reaching were its
results. That engagement brought the war to
a sudden conclusion, and obviated further blood-
shed. It inspired the Matabele with a profound
respect and regard for their conquerors, which our
previous victories alone would not have given
them. Without that sacrifice it would have been
long before we had brought about a true peace.
O ur vanquished foes would have regarded any
clemency on our part as a sign of cowardice ;
the young amajakas would have bragged at

their periodic beer-drinkings, and organised
risings against the white men. But having suf-
fered so severely from that stubborn resistance to
the death of a handful of white men unprovided
with Maxims, they realised the hopelessness
of again trying conclusions with the Chartered
Company's forces ; they were terrified at their
own victory, and, as I myself experienced, it was
possible, immediately after the Shangani fight,
for a white man to travel alone and unarmed
with safety throughout the greater portion oi
Matabeleland. The death of Wilson and his
men brought a complete peace to the land, so
they did not fall in vain. The story of the
Shangani will be told in many a kraal ; and the
prestige these Britons won for their countrymen
will go far to check the ardour of turbulent
tribes and to preserve the peace of Africa.

Not one man of Wilson's party survived to
tell the tale of that hopeless but fierce stand of
the thirtv-four against thousands ; but various
native rumours reached us. I was at Inyati
when Dawson, some three months after the fight,
returned from his mission to the Shangani : he
gave me the full details he had gathered from
Matabele who had taken part in the fight; and
later on old Umjan himself came in, and told us
all that had taken place, extolling the bravery
of the Avhite men with a simple but most im-
pressive eloquence. It is his narrative I purpose
to repeat here.

It will be well first to recall the events that led
up to the despatch of Wilson's patrol. Loben-
gula's impis had been broken in two decisive
battles ; Buluwayo had been occupied by the
Company's troops ; a considerable proportion of
the disheartened Matabele, having been offered
by Dr. Jameson easy terms of peace, and, realis-
ing that they would be treated with generosity,
were quite ready to " come in," but dared not
so long as the King was still holding out with
a Jarge force of his followers. It was therefore

THE SHANGANI PATROL.

117

essential that the King should be captured or be
induced to submit, in order to effect the pacifica-
tion of the country and avoid further bloodshed.
Lobengula, in reply to Dr. Jameson's messages
inviting him to surrender and guaranteeing his
safety, had at first promised to " come in," but
had subsequently either altered his intention, or
had been constrained by his warlike following.
Spies brought in information that he was re-
treating to the north with a considerable force
consisting of the remnants of his broken impis,
with the object either of organising a stand
further on, or of crossing the Zambesi to establish
another military despotism beyond the great
river.

Dr. Jameson accordingly sent a force, under
Major P. W. Forbes, in pursuit of the King ;
but this column failed to come up with the
fugitive, for, having exhausted its supplies, it
was compelled to retire on Inyati, a mission
station forty miles to the north-east of Buluwayo.
It was afterwards ascertained that Lobengula
was only three miles away when his pursuers
turned back.

Reinforcements with food and ammunition
were then sent to Shiloh, another mission station
between Buluwayo and Inyati, and from this
place Major Forbes set out afresh with 300 men,
on November 25th, to overtake the King. There
had been very heavy rains, and the roadless
wilderness through which they had to go was
little better than a morass, almost impassable
for waggons. They had made but little progress
by November 29th, and Major Forbes, finding
that his horses and oxen were becoming ex-
hausted and realising that the King would never
be caught unless the column travelled faster, sent
all his waggons and a considerable portion of his
force back to Inyati, only retaining 160 men,
mounted on the best of the horses, of whom
sixty were troopers of the Bechuanaland Border
Police, the remainder volunteers of the Salisbury,
Victoria, and Tuli columns. He took with him
two Maxims, and horses carrying ten days'
rations for each man. This little force then
pushed on rapidly, despite the heavy rains and
the fever that prevails at that season in the
lowlands. They were on a hot scent, and knew
that the King could not be far ahead of them.
Each day they came to his recently abandoned
camps, and found frequent signs of his retreat.
They thrust their way through the thick bush
and across the swamps, following the spoor of
the King's three waggons, occasionally capturing
stragglers from his force or some of his cattle.

The Matabele hovered round, watching them all
the while ; but no attack was made upon them
though the scouts had narrow escapes.

At last, on the 3rd of December, they came to
a valley near the banks of the Shangani and
found a schcrm (enclosure of bushes), which had
evidently been vacated but a very short time
before, for the fires were still burning within it.
A chiefs son, who was captured at this place,
confessed that the King had slept there on the
previous night, and was not far off. This was
good news, and all hoped that they would be
rewarded for the privations they had undergone '
by the speedy capture of Lobengula. But it was
now five o'clock in the evening, and darkness
would soon make it impossible for the column
to proceed ; so Major Forbes, having selected a
strong position in which to laagar for the night,
decided to send Major Allan Wilson with a party
of about twenty men, to reconnoitre. Among
those who volunteered to go on this patrol were
several officers and some of the leading settlers
in Mashonaland : it consisted, indeed, of the
very pick of frontier manhood. Major Wilson's
instructions were to follow the King's spoor and
ascertain his whereabouts, and to return to the
laagar before dark. It was Major Forbes's in-
tention to remain where he was until dawn, and
then to make a final dash for the King. Supplies
were now running short, and unless Lobengula
was captured on the morrow the chase would
have to be abandoned, and the column would
have to return to Inyati. Shortly after the
patrol had set out, a native prisoner gave Major
Forbes reliable information to the effect that an
impi of about 3,000 Matabele was then hemming
in his force, so extra precautions were taken to
guard the laagar against surprise during the
night, which was an exceedingly dark one.

Early in the night, two of Major Wilson's
party rode in with a message for the commanding
officer. They reported that the patrol had
crossed the Shangani, and that Major Wilson,
having ascertained that the King, accompanied
by but few of his followers, was onlv a short dis-
tance ahead of him, had thought it best not to
return that night, but would bivouac where he
was, close on the King's heels.

Before midnight three more men came in
from Major Wilson. They corroborated the
report that the King had sent his impi to sur-
round the column and prevent its crossing the
river. They said that the patrol had found a
native to guide them, had followed the King's
spoor for som.e distance, and passed several

112

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

scherms full of women, children, and cattle.
Then they fell in with some of the King's men,
who offered no resistance, possibly imagining
that this was the advance guard of the whole
column, and that the dreaded Maxims were close
behind. An officer, who was acting as inter-
preter, shouted to the natives that the white
men would not injure them, but wanted to talk
to the King. Just as it was getting dark, they
approached some scherms, in one of which, the

at once despatched Captain Borrow to Major
Wilson with a reinforcement of twenty men,
while he explained in a letter that he would
cross the river at daylight with the column to
join him.

At dawn, the column under Major Forbes
prepared to advance, and, while doing so, hea^y
firing was heard across the river, showing that
Wilson's party was already in action with the
enemy. Major Forbes followed the King's spoor

TWHoris

MR. RILEV. UMJAN. MR. DAWSON.
(The waggon is the one in which Messrs Dawson and Riley returned from the Shangani with the King's wives as described.)

guide told them, was the King himself. A
number of armed Matabele came out with
threatening action ready to protect the waggons,
and were surrounding the patrol. A heavy
rain-storm now rendered the obscurity intense,
so Major Wilson was compelled to retire, and
took up his position for the night in the bush
half a mile away.

Major Forbes, hemmed in as he was by the
■enemy's impi, would have been guilty of extreme
rashness had he ventured to take his whole force
and his Maxims across a difficult river and
through dense bush on a dark night, when the
Matabele could have easily rushed the column
with their assegais and annihilated it ; but he

towards the Shangani drift, and no sooner had
the column reached the high river bank than a
heavy fire was opened on it by the enemy con-
cealed in the surrounding bush. The troopers
were quickly formed up, the Maxims were got
into action, and a smart skirmish ensued, in the
course of which the white force lost sixteen
horses, and had five men wounded. At last the
enemy's fire was silenced, and Major Forbes
was able to retire along the river bank and take
up a better position where bush afforded cover.

In every way luck seemed to be against the
\vhite men on this fatal day ; for it was now
observed that the Shangani, which had been
easily fordable on the previous day, had, as is

THE SHANGANI PATROL.

113

the way of African rivers, suddenl}' swollen by
the morning to a broad, deep, and rushing flood,
across which it would be impossible to take
a body of armed men, to say nothing of the
Maxims. Heavy storms had been raging on the
distant hills, and all the rivers were up, so that
the main column and the patrol were cut off
from one another.

But while the action I have described was
taking place, three men had succeeded with
some difficulty in swimming the Shangani.
These were three troopers from Wilson's party.
They rode up to the column with haggard faces
that plainly told of disaster, and one of them
— Burnham, the American scout — came up to

At dawn. Major Wilson decided to make a
rush on the King's waggons. The whole force
galloped up to within a few yards of the scherm,
and then halted, while the interpreter shouted
out to the King to come out and speak with
the white men. The reply was a heavy fire
from the King's schcrm and from the bush on
either side. The fire was returned by our men ;
but, finding that the enemy were surrounding
him. Major Wilson retreated for about half a
mile, and took up a position on one of the
gigantic ant-heaps which are frequent in this
part of Africa. Here the action was carried on
for some time, the Matabele fire being very wild
and -producing little effect ; but as the enemy

" THtY FOUGHT ON GRIMLY " (/. Il8).

Major Forbes, and said with breathless emotion :
'' I think I may say that we are the sole
survivors of that fight."

Then he told his story. Captain Borrow and
the reinforcement had reached Major Wilson's
camp on the previous night, without falling in
with the enemy.
8

were again surrounding him, under cover of
the dense bush, Major Wilson ordered his men
to remount, and the party commenced their
retreat towards the river, retracing their way
along the spoor of the King's waggons.

Major Wilson then asked Burnham tc make
an attempt to reach the column and inform

114

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

Major Forbes of the position of affairs. Burn-
ham took with him two of the best-mounted
troopers, and the three galloped off. They had
not ridden far before they came upon a large
body of Matabele, which was evidently marching
to cut oflf Major Wilson's retreat. The three
troopers rode for their lives through the storm
of bullets that was directed upon them, and
contrived to escape uninjured to the river-bank.
As they rode, they heard a heavy firing behind
them, which told them that the body of the
enemy the3- had just passed had attacked
Wilson's party. Burnham said that the patrol
must have been com-
pletely' surrounded by
several thousands C't
Matabele warriors,
and that it was im-
possible that a single
trooper could escape ;
for the patrol, as he
explained, could only
retreat slowly, if at all
— it could not cut
its way through the
Matebele : several of
the horses had been
killed, so that some
horses had to carr}'
two men ; most of
the horses Avere worn
out, and there would
be wounded men also
to carry off. True,
the best - mounted
men might have gal-
loped through and
saved their lives ; but

a sativc gin pent is an expedient not resorted to
in African warfare by white men, and still less so
by men of the stamp of Wilson and his com-
panions : the} would certainly have stood by
each other to the end.

On reaching the n'ver at the point they had
crossed it on the previous day, Burnham and
his two companions found it in flood, and had
to follow the bank for a considerable distance
before they came to a place where they could
swim across.

There was now nothing left to Major Forbes
but to save the remnant of his force, and retreat
on Inj-ati and Buluwayo. The river was still
up, and might remain so for days. It was abso-
lutely impossible to transport Maxims across
it, and to have sent men over the river without

THE SHANGANI PATROL

Maxims would ha\e been to condemn them to
certain slaughter. Major Forbes remained where
he was for one da}', in the hope of hearing some
news of Wilson's party ; but none came. He
then commenced his retreat along the left banl<
of the Shangani river, having first despatched
two troopers to find their way to Buluwayo
and ask Dr. Jameson to send reinforcements,
food, and ammunition to meet him.

The hazardous retreat to Inyati occupied
eleven days. The column suffered great priva-
tions, and was perpetually harassed by the
Matabele, who hovered round it, creeping along

through the bush on
either side of the line
of march, watching for
an opportunity to
ush the white men,
but having a due re-
spect for the Maxims.
They occasionally
opened a hot fire on
the troopers and their
horses, they attempted
surprises, and were
not repulsed without
further loss to the
already weakened
column. In these
skirmishes, the enemy
succeeded in shoot-
ing a number of the
horses, while many
other horses died, or
became so feeble that
they had to be aban-
doned on the way : in
all, about 130 horses
were lost. The wounded men rode, but the
troopers who were not ill and Major Forbes,
himself were now without mounts, and had
to march over such rough ground that their
boots soon wore out, and many of the men were
walking in their wallets. At last there were
no horses left sufficiently strong to carry the
Maxims, so the gun-carriages were abandoned,
and the Maxims were carried by men on foot.
All baggage also was thrown away, the men
retaining but a blanket each.

The men were worn out by the hard marching
and constant anxiety, but displayed an admirable
spirit. All supplies had run out, and they lived
on the tough flesh of their exhausted horses.
On one occasion they captured some of Loben-
gula's cattle ; but the enemy then fell on the

^ A MaJorU'ilson's attack
^ on the King's schertn-
\i0f BP/t'cf 7tJtere Majorll'iliot,
p tooi his stand [fight

'% C Site 0/ Ma joy Forbes'
%. O Mft relief cotumit here.
t .^Krnats

THE SHANGAXI PATROL.

Ii:

column, and, during the progress of a smart
skirmish, recovered the cattle and drove them
all off again.

At last, when they were within a day's march
of Inyati, the troopers met the relief column that
had been sent from Buluwayo with a good supply
of food : they had now done with their privations
and alarms, and reached Buluwayo without
further difficulties.

At the end of January another patrol of i8o
troopers of the Bechuanaland Border Police,
under Colonel Gould Adams, with two Maxims,
set out for the scene of the Shangani disaster,
with the object of recovering the remains of Major
Wilson's party and the abandoned gun-carriages.
It was also the aim of this expedition to follow
up the Matabele amajakas — who were still
iiolding out in force on the Shangani, and were
preventing others from coming in — and to bring
the King to terms if possible. This patrol, which
I accompanied, did not get farther than Inyati.
\''ery heavy rains made it impossible to push
beyond that point for some weeks, and then, as
the rainy season had set in in earnest, and the
men, bivouacking night after night on the muddy
ground, would have suffered much from the
lowland fever, the Imperial authorities counter-
manded the patrol.

Dr. Jameson was still very anxious to enter
into communication with Lobengula, whose
whereabouts was unknown. There could be
no secured peace until he had come to terms.
Several natives whom the Administrator had sent
with messages to the King failed to reach him ;
they came back 'and confessed that when they
had fallen in with raiding parties of young
warriors from the King's force they had been
afraid to go further, lest they should be put to
death as spies of the white men.

As native messengers, not unnaturally, shirked
the duty, it became apparent that Lobengula
could only be approached by some white man
who happened to be 2i persona grata to the King,
and who was willing to undertake the perilous
adventure. Mr. James Dawson — a Scotchman,
who had for some years been residing in Bulu-
wayo as a trader, respected by both white and
black, a man possessed of the tact so necessary
to one negotiating wnth suspicious savages, and
whose relations with the King had always been
most friendly — now pluckily volunteered to go
to the King himself and deliver Dr. Jameson's
message. He accordingly set out with a Scotch
cart on February the 4th, 1894, accompanied by
one other brave white man, Mr. Patrick Riley,

also an old resident in Matabeleland and a friend
of Lobengula's.

We waited anxiously until March the 7th, on
which day Messrs. Dawson and Riley, having
successfully accomplished the objects of their
hazardous mission, returned to Inyati. As it
came in there were signs to show that the party
had had a very rough journey. The Scotch cart,
dilapidated, its tent-cover torn by the thorny
bush, was slowly drawn towards the camp by
weary oxen ; while the natives, who had set out
from here thirty-two days before, active, well-
nourished, and cheerful, now painfully crawled
along with a miserable air, lean, haggard, their
wasted limbs aching with the fever of the
pestilential region they had traversed.

Mr. Dawson told me the story of his journey.
The heaviest rains of the season fell while he and
his companions were away, and their progress
\X2A very slow. Four days after their departure
they came to an uninhabited countr}-, where
they travelled with difficulty among rocky kopjtes
or across deep morasses, often having to cut a
way through the dense bush. Here wild beasts
abounded, and each night numbers of lions
roared around their camp. On reaching the
banks of the Shangani they fell in with small
parties of Matabele, who had decided to " come
in,'' and were on their way to Buluwayo. From
these Dawson first learnt that the King was dead,
and that his message would, therefore, have to be
delivered to the chief indunas. On Februaiy 13th
the mission arrived at the Shangani drift, and
there found a number of natives suffering terribly
from disease and lack of proper food : th^- had
no grain of any sort, and had been subsisting on
flesh alone. They were all anxious to " come in,"
but had been afraid to do so, thinking that the
white men would kill them in revenge for the
cutting off" of Major Wilson's party. They
were delighted to see Dawson and to hear his
reassuring promises.

On the further side of the river was stationed
a large force of Matabele, the amajakas of
the Royal Regiment and others. These young
warriors, suspecting that the two white men were
the scouts of some patrol that was advancing to
attack them, at first made hostile demonstrations ;
and it was, possibly, fortunate for Dawson and
Riley that the Shangani was full at the time and
quite impassable. The river did not subside until
February 22nd ; but in the meanwhile Dawson
and the indunas of the regiments opposite com-
municated with each other by shouting across
the swollen stream. Dawson thus succeeded

116

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

in delivering his message of peace, allaj'ed the
apprehension of the Matabele, and estabhshed
friendly relations with them. On the 22nd some
men swam across
the river to Daw-
son, and he was
enabled to more '■'^/

of the mission was thus effected, and the rapid
pacification of the country was insured.

Dawson found at this deadly spot not c^nly

**'<. ■■■■' ■-.

ZlMliABWE KRAAL.

fully explain to them the treatment they would
receive if they " came in."

On February' 23rd the two white men crossed
the river. This district must be excessively pes-
tilential, for out of the thousands of Matabele
whom Dawson found on the further bank of the
Shangani, there was scarcel}' a man who was not
down with fever, while numbers had perished.
Their condition was most pitiable : many looked
more like skeletons than men. Dawson found
that even the young amajakas, weakened and
dispirited by the sufferings they had undergone,
had no heart for further fighting, but were
anxious to "come in." Dawson succeeded in
convincing them that the white men, far from
wishing to kill those who had fought in the
war, respected these men most, and would treat
them honourably. Umjan, who conducted the ne-
gotiations, was rejoiced to hear this, and said he
knew the white indunas meant the Matabele well,
for had they not sent to them as envoj's the old
friends of their people, Dawson and Riley, whom
they trusted, and not strangers ? So all agreed
to go in and lay down their arms. The object

Umjan, the old commander-in-chief,
but several others of the leading in-
dunas. He learnt that a number of
people of note had died of disease
or had committed suicide, and on
Lobengula's death several of his
wives had hung themselves. Umjan
told Dawson the story of the King's
decease and obsequies. Lobengula was suffering
from fever and smallpox, but his heart was broken
because the amajakas of his own — his favourite
regiment, the Imbezu — had deserted him after the
last fight : he contemplated suicide. Buzungwan,
the head dance-doctor, or master of the ceremonies
at the great festival of the first fruits, was the only
man of note with the dj'ing King. Umjan was sent
for, but arrived too late to see Lobengula alive.
" It is now time for your work — to bury the
King,'' said Buzungwan to him, pointing to the
corpse. Umjan performed this honourable duty
according to the traditional custom. He carried
the body to a hollow under a precipice, and
placed it on a stone so that it sat upright with
the face turned towards the rising sun. He put
upon it the richest royal raiment and ornaments,
and placed the King's war assegais in the dead
hands. After piercing the body with an assegai,
Umjan built a chamber of stones around it, with
one great flat stone at the top, and then went
away leaving Lobengula, the Calf of the Great
Elephant, sitting in state, just as he was wont to
do when alive.

THE SHANGAXI PATROL.

ii:

All the people now prepared to leave the deadly
banks of the Shangani and " come in." Numbers
were too weak to travel, so Dawson promised
that food and medicine should be sent to them
without delay. Some of the indunas accompanied
him back to Invati to represent the others. I
was present when they were brought before Dr.
Jameson. The Administrator explained to them
that there would be no more king, and the white
men would govern the country, but the indunas
who behaved well would still rule their people,

occupied before the war. He assured them that
the white men bore no grudge against those of
the Matabele who had taken up arms against
them and killed their soldiers, \\niite men knew
they must lose some of their number when they
went to war. The man he respected most in the
whole country was old Umjan, who had fought
hardest against us, and had stood by his King
to the very end. Dr. Jameson then asked the
indunas if they had anything to say. They
replied that, having no other road to go, they had

HE SOLD HIS LIFE DEARLY '" (/. II9).

being answerable to the white magistrates ; and
there must be no more killing or witchcraft. He
promised them full protection, and told them to
return to the cultivation of the lands they had

come to lay down their heads before the great
white chief, who could kill them or not. They
were pleased with the treatment they had
received at the hands of the white man. " And

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

now we can sleep," they concluded by saying —
the usual Zulu method of expressing relief from
anxiety. Often when men came in to surrender
at Buluwayo, and Dr. Jameson asked them what
they wanted, they would repl)' : '' We have
come to learn it we may sleep.''

When Dawson and Rile}- were on the Shan-
gani, the natives took them to the spot where
Wilson's party had fallen — about four miles from
the river-bank. They found the bones of the
thirty-four troopers lying close together where
the men had stood at bay and died fighting.
Dawson buried these remains temporarily under

LOBENGULA.
(Prom a sketch from life by Mr. A. E, Maund.')

a mopani tree, on which he cut the simple inscrip-
tion : " To brave men." He described the trees
and bushes all round this spot as being cut about
by what must have been a tremendous fire. It
is estimated that the thirt3--four white men killed
ten times their number of the enemy, at least, on
that day before they were slaughtered.

The fine old warrior, Umjan, whom I met at
Buluwa\'o when he " came in " to surrender to
the Administrator, gave a graphic and clear
account of all that occurred. Umjan said that
the King was not with his waggons when Major
Wilson's party attacked them : he had fled the
da}' before with several of his indunas. Umjan
had been sent by Lobengula on December 2nd
with a strong impi to fall on Forbes' column in
the dense bush. Finding the column encamped
in the open near the river, Umjan had to alter
his plans. He left a portion of his force to lie in
ambush on either side of the drift, and returned
with the remainder to guard the King.

On the night of the 3rd, Umjan returned to
the King's waggons and learnt that the King had
gone, and he was informed that Major Wilson's
patrol was encamped not far off in the bush.

Umjan decided to do nothing that night, and
await dawn. Wilson's party was thus caught in
a trap : behind it was the force ambushed at the
drift, which had allowed the white men to ride
by ; in front was the force with Umjan.

In the morning Major Wilson attacked the
waggons, and was repulsed in the manner de-
scribed by Burnham. Umjan said that the
white men retreated towards the river for about
three miles, fighting gallantly all the while ; and
it was then that their further retreat was cut off
by the other Matabele force which had crossed
the river in the night, and which, hearing the
heavy firing, had left the drift and was hurrying
along the King's spoor to take part in the fight.

Umjan and those with him saw Burnham and
the other two troopers ride off just before the
white men were completely hemmed in by over-
whelming numbers. The Matabele did not
understand that these three men had been
despatched to obtain reinforcements, and mar-
velled that those others of the white men who
had horses did not also " take refuge in flight
instead of fighting by the side of their comrades
until all were dead together." We have only the
Matabele account of what took place subsequent
to the riding off of Burnham. Umjan said
that the white men made several desperate at-
tempts to break through the encircling swarms oi
Matabele, who were continually being reinforced
by fresh arrivals.

At last, having lost several horses and having
some men wounded, the troopers determined to
sell their lives dearly. The}' formed into a close
ring and, under cover ot their fallen horses,
opened a deadly fire on the Matabele whenever
a rush was attempted. Umjan spoke with keen
enthusiasm of the grand standing at bay of his
white foemen. As they repelled each fresh attack
with rifles and revolvers, and added to the heaps
of Matabele dead that surrounded them, the
troopers, said Umjan, " cheered and jeered at us
as cowards, challenging us to come nearer." The
Matabele perpetually raised their guttural wix-
cry ^ ^'' Shzee! shzee ! '''' while, from under cover
of the bush, they poured a constant fire mto the
thick of the white men. There was no crying
for quarter on the part of the latter. They
fought on grimly : when a man was wounded he
laid down and continued to fire, or, if he was
unable to fight, handed up his ammunition to his
companions. '' The white men are indeed the
right men to meet in battle, even when they
have no Maxims ! " exclaimed old Umjan with
flashing eves.

THE SHANGAXI PATROL.

And so they fought on, until at last all were
either killed or wounded so -severely that they
could not fight longer, with the exception of
one big man " who would not die.'' " We could
not kill him, often though we wounded him,''
declared Umjan, " and we thought that he must
have been a wizard." This man, who was never
identified, stood on the top of a large ant-heap,
which was in the centre of an open space. He
had collected round him the revolvers and
the rifles, and ammunition of several of his
dead comrades, and he killed a number of his
assailants. The Matabele could not muster
courage to approach him, tor, according to their
description, " he picked up weapon after weapon
and fired rapidly, and with wonderful accuracy
in all directions — in front of him, to the side of
him, and over his shoulders — whenever Mata-
bele ventured to come out of the bush into the
open." After killing many of them, he was at
last shot in the hip, and had to fight sitting
down. He sold his life dearly, and it was not till
he sank exhausted from loss of blood from many
wounds, that the Matabele made a rush on him,
and stabbed him to death with their assegais.
Even then it was not all over, for some of the
dying troopers summoned sufficient strength to
fire their revolvers at the approaching Matabele;
and by this time the indomitable resistance
they had met with, and the extent of their
losses, had so awed and scared the enemy that
they fled precipitately into the bush from that
narrow circle of dead and dying Englishmen,
and did not come back until some hours later
when they found all was quiet : not one of their
brave foemen was left alive.

Umjan, himself a gallant leader, far superior
to his degenerate Zulu warriors, who often re-
fused to follow him, thoroughly appreciated the
dogged valour displayed by Wilson and his men.
These were men after his own heart. Speaking
to some of his amajakas in Dawson's hearing,
he said : " We were fighting then with men of
men, whose fathers were men of men before
them. They fought and died together : those
who could have saved themselves chose to re-
main and die with their brothers. Do not

forget this. You did not think that white men
were as brave as Matabele ; but now you must
see that they are men indeed, to whom you are
as but timid girls.''

Our men, it appears, did not exhaust their
ammunition before they were slaughtered, as
was at first reported, and Dawson found car-
tridges in the pouches and in the revolvers of
the dead troopers ; so it is more than probable
that Wilson and his comrades gave a very
good account of themselves, and sold their
lives dearly as they fell, man after man, to the
very last ; and it is certain that they did not die
before they had killed some four hundred of
the enemy.

Dawson made a second journey to the banks
of the Shangani, to carry supplies of food and
medicine to the suffering Matabele, and brought
back with him several leading natives and the
surviving queens of Lobengula. The appearance
of these people fully bore out his description
of their condition. Though he had selected
the strongest and most fit to travel, they were
frightfully emaciated, some being reduced by
famine and fever to the nearest approach to
skeletons possible for a living creature : despite
all his care, twenty-five people perished on the
journey. On thi« occasion, Dawson disinterred
the remains of Wilson's part}-, and brought
back with him the thirt5'-four skulls, most of
which, we observed, had been pierced by bullets.
These skulls are to be buried in consecrated
ground near those grand remains of an unknown
civilisation and religion — the ruins of the
Zimbabwe temple. Here Mr. Cecil Rhodes
proposes to raise a granite monolith to the
memor\- of these brave men. I have seen the
site, than which none more suitable could have
been selected — a bare rocky mound rising above
a wilderness of dense tropical bush and flower-
ing trees, half-way between the pagan temple
on the plain and the rugged Zimbabwe kopjie^
crowned with massive fortifications of immense
antiquity. A monument of simple dignity,
standing amid these mysterious ruins, and sur-
rounded by this wild and lonely scenery, wil:
produce a most impressive effect.

120

X jj II "„" J''_" ^' ig

'^ -"^ ^^^

": *1 " If II i E=a

#^^

'■■^

:- ■,^;;::^.c</ -r/-^-.-'-

^HE SlE^Jt AND

'.:' ,^,?^:.c^„;^?';?'^-ca^£■

^' " " " " '' ^* ** ^' " " '• *•

DELHI, the ancieut and magnificent
capital of the Grand Moguls, or
Mahomedan rulers of India, became
the focus of the great and ever-
memorable- mutiny which made our Indian
Empire run with blood during the year 1857.
Of this mutiny among the native Indian troops,
or sepoys, in British pay, some ugly signs had
already been observed early in the year; but it
was only on the loth of May that military revolt
openly raised its terrible head at Meerut — a
place about forty miles north-east of Delhi.
There were several causes of this rebellion, but
perhaps the chief one was the fact that the
native troops had been forced to use greased
cartridges, which their religious principles or
prejudices forbade them even to touch, as being
encased with the fat of so unclean an animal as
a pig, Out of respect for their scruples on this
head, new rules had been made allowing the
sepoys to tear, instead of bite, off the ends of
the cartridges ; but even this concession did
not satisf\- them, and, for positively refusing to
touch the cartridges that were offered them,
about a squadron of native cavalry at Meerut
were sentenced to ten years' penal servitude.
In presence of the -whole garrison, they Avere
stripped of their uniforms, fitted with fetters,
and marched off to prison, yelling out curses at
their colonel as they went. Next evening the
storm of evil and long-pent-up passions broke
loose. The sepoy regiments at Meerut rose in
open revolt, rushed to the gaol and released
their comrades, murdered some of their English
officers and their wives, plundered and slew like
demons, and, leaving the place running with blood
and wrapt in flames, fled to Delhi, the great
stronghold of the Mahomedan d5masty and
faith. So sudden and sanguinary had been this
outburst against the British rule and name that
the English commanders — all but a few whose

energetic counsel was rejected — lost their heads
completely for the time being, as if paralysed
with astonishment and unbelief; and b}- the
time they had recovered their senses the fugitive
mutineers were safe within the walls of Delhi.

Standing on the right, or western, bank of the
Jumna, which is here about a quarter of a mile
broad, Delhi had a circumference of about seven
miles and a population of nearly 200,000. In
its palmiest days the city was said to have
covered an area of twenty square miles. At the
time of the mutiny it formed a magnificent
collection of temples, mosques, and palaces. Of
the mosques the chief was that of the Jummr
Musjid, or great Mahomedan cathedral — a truly
noble structure, towering above the rest of the
cil}'. Again, there was the mosque of Roushen-
ud-Dowlah, where, in 1739, Nadir Shar sat and
witnessed the massacre of the unfortunate in-
habitants. But that was nothing to what the
present king of Delhi, Bahadoor Shah, was now
about to look upon. Under the English, this
descendant of Timour the Tartar had become
the mere shadow of a king, and the thought
that he was no longer a potentate, but a mere
puppet in the hands of the real masters of India,
had inflamed his heart against them with a
passion which only needed a spark of fire to set
it in a blaze. That spark was supplied b}- the
sudden advent of the niutineers from Meerut on
the nth of May

Crossing the Jumna by the bridge of boats
the}' swarmed into the courtyard of the palace,
where they were eagerly joined by the ro3'al
guards. Captain Douglas, the commander of
these guards, rushed down from the presence of
the King to quiet the turmoil, but his presence
only made it worse. He was joined by Mr.
Eraser, the Commissioner, and Mr. Hutchinson,
the Collector ; but the surging, roaring crowd
closed in upon them with murder in their eyes

THE SIEGE AND STORMING OF DELHI.

121

The Englishmen attempted flight, Captain
Douglas flinging himself into the moat ; but he
was badly hurt by his fall, while Mr. Hutchinson
was also wounded. As these two were being
carried to the apartments over the palace Gate-
way, Mr. Eraser made one last effort to appease
the multitude ; but while in the act of speaking
he was cut down and hewn to pieces. The

the points of their bayonets, and committing
the most inhuman barbarities on their mother*
of which the very description would still brina
burning tears to the eyes. An English tele°
graph clerk heard the awful uproar, but even
when the flood of murder came surging towards
him he went on with his work— click, click,
click— flashing his warning message up to the

"THE COOL-HEADED SIG.NALLER DIED AT HIS POST.

whole ferocious crew then rushed to the upper
rooms, where Mr. Jennings, the Chaplain, his
daughter, and a young lady friend were tending
the wounds of Captain Douglas and Mr.
Hutchinson. Bursting open the doors, the dark,
demoniacal throng poured in and hacked them to
pieces. Then the sepoys, maddened with blood,
streamed forth from the palace, and, accom-
panied by the scum of the city — the very vilest
of mankind — flew to the European quarters,
where they slew, burned, ravished, and raged
without me'rcy — tossing English babies up on

authorities at the various military stations in
the Punjab. " The sepoys," he wired, '' have
come in from Meerut and are burning every-
thing. Mr. Todd is dead, and, we hear, several
Europeans. We must shut up." The last click
died away. The red-handed rebels burst in, and
the staunch, cool-headed signaller died at hii
post, as most of his English countrvmen did,
and all were prepared to do, on that awful day
of blood.

Among these Englishmen in Delhi none
acted with greater heroism than Lieutenant

■t '^ ^

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

Willoughby — a " shy, refined, boyish-looking
subaltern," scarce capable of saying " Bo ! " to
a goose in piping times of peace, though his
friends wlII knew what his spirit could be
in the hour of danger. On this terrible day
Willoughbv chanced to be in charge of the
magazine, containing vast stores of ammuni-
tion which he knew would be coveted by the
mutineers. At once taking in the situation,
he sent for help to Brigadier Graves, who
was in command of the native garrison outside
the citv in its cantonments ; but no help came,
and for the simple reason that at this very
time the English officers of this garrison were
being massacred by their mutinous men. Wil-
loughby could not trust his own native troops,
but he had eight of his own countrymen, whom
he knew to be as staunch as steel — Lieutenants
Forre>t and Raynor, Conductors {i.e. warrant-
officers of the Ordnance Department) Buckley,
Shaw, and Scully ; Sub-Conductor Crow ; and
Sergeants Edwards and Stewart. Barricading
the outer gates of the magazine, Willoughby
placed guns there, double-charged with grape,
which made the mutineers pause : but not for
long.

Encouraged by the reports of their scouts,
who had been sent out to see whether there was
yet any prospect of English succour arriving
from Meerut, they at last sent to demand the
surrender of the magazine, " in the name of the
King of Delhi," who had meanwhile assumed
the title of Sovereign of all Hindostan. To this
insulting request only one answer was possible —
none at all. Then the red-handed hordes of
murderers came on against the magazine with
ladders to scale the walls, and were mown down
by the grape-shot of Willoughbv's guns. But
the gaps made in their ranks were swiftly filled
by fresh men swarming up the ladders, and
within fifty yards they poured upon the " noble
nine " Englishmen below a deadlv shower of
bullets. Two of them fell mortally wounded,
but Forrest and Buckley, heedless of the leaden
hail, continued to work their guns with a
coolness as if on parade. At last they were
struck — one in the hand and another in the
head, and the guns could now be worked no
longer. A loud shout of triumph rose from the
mutineers, but this was shouting before they
were out of the wood.

Willoughby saw that his case was now indeed
desperate. He had kept the rebels at bay for
about three hours, during which time he had
repeatedly run to the bastion to strain his eyes

and see whether he could discern the coming of
any English help from Meerut. But neither
from Meerut nor from the cantonments outside
the city walls did any help make its appearance ;
and now the rebels were bursting in upon him
in a roaring, bloodthirsty crowd. His country-
men at iMeerut had not been true to him ; but
he would be true to himself. Foreseeing the
possibility of his defences being forced, he had
taken other measures of precaution. A train
had been laid from the powder store to a tree
standing in the magazine yard, and by this tree
stood Conductor Scully, who had heroically
volunteered to fire the train at a given signal
from his chief. For this signal the time had
come when the guns of Willoughby could no
longer be worked. Then he quietly gave the
order to Buckley, who raised his hat to Scully,
who in turn fired the train ; and in a moment
more the city of Delhi was shaken to its foun-
dations as wdth the shock of an earthquake,
accompanied by a terriffic roar of thunder and
the flames and smoke of a volcano.

Scully fell an immortal martyr to the cause of
his countrv, but with himself he blew into the
air more than a thousand rebels, and, above all
things, baulked the mutineers of their inestimable
prey — the magazine. Four of the " noble nine,"
wounded, shattered, and bruised, made good
their retreat from the ruins ; but the heroic
Willoughby only survived to be murdered on
his way to Meerut. Never has the Victoria
Cross been given for a more heroic deed than
the defence and blowing up of the Delhi
magazine ; and it was well said that the 300
Spartans, who in the summer morning sat
" combing their long hair for death " in the
passes of Thermopylae, have not earned a
loftier estimate for themselves than these nine
modern Englishmen.

While the fight for the magazine had been
going on, a tragedy of equal horror was taking
place at the Cashmere Gate, and in the canton-
ments be3'ond the city walls. At both these
places the sepoys had shot down or bayoneted
their English officers, and when the magazine
blew up, the natives of the 38th Regiment,
throwing off" the mask, suddenly fired a volle}^
at their officers, three of whom fell dead. " Two
of the survivors," writes an historian of that
awful time, " rushed up to the bastion of the
main guard and jumped down thirty feet into
the ditch below. The rest were following, when,
hearing the shrieks of the women in the guard-
room, they ran back under a storm *of bullets to

THE SIEGE AND STORMING OF DELHI.

T23

rescue them. The women were shuddering as
they looked down the steep bank, and asking
each other whether it would be possible to
descend, when a round shot whizzing over their
heads warned them not to hesitate. Fastening
their belts and handkerchiefs together, the
officers let themselves down, and then, having
helped the women to follow, carried them with
desperate struggles, up the opposite side," whence
the fugitives could reach the jungle. At the
cantonments the fate of the English — women,
children, and a few surviving officers — was some-
thing similar, and then began that piteous flight,
with all its frightful sufferings, which hardened
the hearts of the British to inflict a terrible,
revenge.

Meanwhile, in the city of Delhi itself rebellion
was triumphant and merciless. All the Europeans
that could be found were massacred and tortured
in the most barbarous manner. Some fifty oi
them at the first sound of alarm had barricaded
themselves — men and women — in one of the
strongest houses of the English quarter. But
they were ill-armed and without supplies, and
what could they do against the furious rabble oi
ruffians who besieged them ? They were dragged
to the palace and lodged in a dungeon without
windows, and with only one door. After five
days these were all taken out into a courtyard
and butchered in cold blood, their mangled
bodies being piled on carts and thrown into the
Jumna. That was on the i6th May — five days
after the arrival of the mutineers from Meerut ;
and now Delhi had been cleansed of its last
Christian. Murder and rapine, arson and out-
rages which cannot even be named, had done
their fell work, and the English Raj^ or rule,
had been trampled underfoot no less at Delhi
than at Cawnpore, Lucknow, and other centres
of revolt. The climax of the rebellion had
now been reached, but there still had to
come the inevitable anti-climax. The blood
of hundreds of English men, and women, and
children, wantonly slaughtered, was crying
aloud for vengeance, and a terrible vengeance
it would be.

The mill-wheels of God, it has been said,
grind slowly if surely ; but rarely had they turned
round so slowly as they now seemed to be
doing after the terrible news from Delhi reached
Meerut and the chief places in the Punjab.
The mutiny had broken out so suddenly that
the authorities were at first quite unable to cope
with it, and precious time had to elapse before
the army of retribution could be got to take the

road. But meanwhile a cheerful and plucky
spirit prevailed both amongst officers and
men, notwithstanding all their fatigues, priva-
tion, and sickness ; and if there was one man
more than another, as his brother afterwards
wrote of him, who helped to inspire and keep up
this spirit — if there was one more than another
who merited that which a Roman would have
considered the highest praise, that he never
despaired of his country — it was Lieutenant
Hodson, of the ist Bengal Fusiliers, formerly
of the Guides. "I can but rejoice," he wrote,
" that I am employed again ; certain, too, as I
am, that the star of Old England will shine
brighter in the end, and we shall hold a prouder
position than ever. The crisis is an awful one,
but with God and our Saxon arms to aid us,
I have firm faith in the result."

" Hodson is at Umballa, I know," wrote an
officer at Meerut ; " and I'll bet he will force
his way through, and open up communication
between the Commander-in-Chief and our-
selves. At about 3 o'clock that night I heard
my advanced sentries firing. I rode off to see
what was the matter, and they told me that
a part o ' the enemy's cavalry was approaching
their post. When day broke in galloped
Hodson ! He had left Kurnal (seventy-five miles
off") at 9 o'clock the night before, with one led
horse and an escort of Sikh cavalry, and, as I
anticipated, here he was with despatches for
Wilson ! How I quizzed him for approaching
an armed post at night without knowing the
parole ! Hodson rode straight to Wilson, had
his interview, a bath, breakfast, and two hours'
sleep, and then rode back the seventy-five miles,
having to fight his way for about thirty miles
of the distance." It was no wonder that
another officer, writing to his wife at this time,
said : " Hodson's gallant deeds more resemble
a chapter from the life of Bayard or Amadis
de Gaul than the doings of a subaltern of the
nineteenth century. The only feeling mixed
with admiration for him is envy." " The
pace pleased him " (the Commander-in-Chief,
General Anson), wrote Hodson himself, " for he
ordered me to raise a Corps of Irregular Horse,
and appointed me its commandant."

At last, after a delay which nearly fretted to
death the hearts of men like Hodson, the bulk
of the army of vengeance started from Umballa
under General Anson, who was presently', how-
ever, stricken down with cholera and carried
off". He was succeeded by General Sir Henry
Barnard in the chief command of the Delhi

124

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

field force, consisting of only three Brigades,
totalling about 3,000 Europeans, 1,000 native
troo;'s, and twenty-two guns — a poor enough
army, surely, to be sent to recapture Delhi, with
its hordes of highly-disciplined and well-armed
sepoys behind its cannon-bristling walls. The
plan of operations was that the two Umballa
Brigades should advance to Baghput, where
they would be joined by the Meerut Brigade,
under Archdale Wilson, and then sweep on to

a dull, deep tread ; long lines of baggage-
camels and bullock-carts, with the innumerable
sutlers and camp-servants, toiled along for miles
in the rear, while the gigantic elephants stalked
over bush and stone by the side of the road."

The Meerut Brigade, being much nearer Delhi,
set out on its march some days later than the
Umballa force, and it had to fight its desperate
wa}' to the point of junction. After three
nights' marching the Meerut column, at dawn

^^v.

JUMMA MUSJID, DELHI.

[F/u'to.: Frith, Reigate.

the work of vengeance at Delhi. As it was the
hottest season of the year, with its burning suns
and blistering airs, the men rested in their tents
during the day, and marched by night. *' The
nights were delicious," wrote one who took part
in the campaign ; " the stars bright in the deep
dark sky, the fireflies flashing from bush to bush,
and the air, which in Europe would have been
called warm and close, was cool and refreshing
to cheeks that had felt the hot wind during
the day. Along the road came the heavy roll
of the guns, mixed with the jingling of bits,
and the clanking of the steel scabbards of the
cavalry. The infantry marched on behind with

on Ma}' 30th, reached the village of Ghazi-ud-
din-Nagar, near the river Hindun, about ten
miles from Delhi ; and here the bugler had
barely time to call to arms when the rebels
opened fire wdth heavy guns placed on a ridge.
" The first few rounds from the insurgent
guns," wrote an eye-witness, " were admirably
aimed, plunging through our camp ; but the}'
were ably replied to by our two eighteen-
pounders in position, under Lieutenant Light,
and Major Tombs' troop, most admirably led
by Lieutenant-Colonel Murray-Mackenzie, who,
raking them in flank with his six-pounders, first
made their fire unsteady, and in a short time

THE SIEGE AND STORMING OF DELHI.

125

silenced the heavy guns.'' At the same time the
60th Rifles went for the rebels in a most spirited
manner, and captured several of their heavy
guns. But in doing so Captain Andrews and
four of his men were blown up by the explosion
of an ammunition waggon fired by one of the

taunted with cowardice on presenting them-
selves at Delhi, and reinforced in order that
they might redeem their reputation by hurling
back the advancing force of Feringhees, or
hated Franks — the name by which the English
were known in India. But again the hurling

"IIIE Ol'KICERS THEN, HAVING HELPED THE WOMEN TO FOLLOW, CARRIED THEM UP THE OPPOSITE SIDES' [p. I23).

mutineers. The 6th Dragoon Guards, or Cara-
bineers, then charged and completed the rout
of the rebels, who left in the hands of their
victors all their ordnance, ammunition, and
stores. That night the officers drank in solemn
silence to the memory of their brave departed
comrades, who were buried at dawn beside a
babool tree.

Next day, which was Whit-Sunday, the rebels
again returned to the attack, for they had been

back was all on the side of the sepoys, and once
again they were sent scampering home to Delhi,
though the English, at death's door almost with
the scorching heat and their parching thirst,
were unable to follow up this second victory
of theirs by pursuit. Twenty-three of the
enemy lay together in one ditch, and for three
miles the road to Delhi was strewn with dead
bodies. The English had to mourn the loss of
four officers and fifty men — among the former

126

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

being Napitr, an ensign of the Rifles, so active,
so full of life, so brave, that he won the love and
admiration of all. A bullet struck his leg, and
the moment he was brought into camp it had
to be amputated. During the operation never
a sigh betrayed any sensation of pain. " I shall
never lead the Rifles again," he plaintively mur-
mured ; "I shall never lead the Rifles again."
A few weeks later the brave and generous lad
was laid in his grave.

Next day the Meerut Brigade, which had
done all the fighting hitherto, was reinforced by
a battalion of Goorkhas, who were so overjoyed
at the prospect of another fight that they threw
somersaults and cut capers like so many mounte-
banks. But, much to their disappointment, the
enemy did not return. Six days later the whole
Meerut force crossed the Jumna and joined
General Barnard's Umballa Brigade at Alipur,
being loudly cheered as they marched into head-
quarters camp with the captured guns and other
trophies of their victories.

A day or two previously the intrepid Hodson
had again been on the war-path. It was im-
possible for Barnard to move forward on
Delhi without knowing something of the posi-
tions of the rebels in front of the city, and
who but Hodson should volunteer to ride on
and discover all that his commander wished to
know I Taking with him a few troopers, he
rode, as he wrote, " righ'. up to the Delhi parade-
ground, and the few Sowars (or native horse-
men) whom I met galloped away like mad at
the sight of one white face. Had I had a
hundred Guides with me I would have gone up
to the very walls." A day or two later (8th
July) he wrote : — " Here we are, safe and sound,
after having driven the enemy out of their
position in the cantonments up to and into the
walls of Delhi. I write a line in pencil on
the top of a drum to say that I am mercifully
untouched, and none the worse for a very hard
morning's work. Our loss has been considerable,
the rebels having been driven from their guns
at the point of the bayonet."

This was a reference to the battle of Badli-Ki-
Serai, where the 75th (Stirlingshire) Regiment
and the 60th Rifles again carried the day by a
magnificent bayonet charge, though at a cost of
53 killed and 130 wounded, while the rebel loss
amounted to about 1,000. The British loss had
been severe ; but the victory was worth the
price, for the enemy had now been forced to
surrender to their conqueror a commanding
position, from which he could attack them with

the greatest advantage, and the rebels had been
driven ignominiously by a force far inferior to
their own to take refuge within the walls of the
city trom which they had but lately expelled
every Christian whom they had not slaughtered.

So here then, at last, on the 8th of June, our
tiny British force had established itself in front
of walled and embattled Delhi. Had anything
so audacious, not to say impudent, ever been
heard of before in the annals of warfare ? Troy,
surely, was mere child's play to this, and
Sebastopol a game of battledore. But weakness
of numbers can sometimeij be made up for by
strength of inspiration ; and every British soldier
felt his heart swell to the size of that of twentj*
men when he looked around the cantonments
before Delhi and beheld the still extant traces of
the late massacre of his countrymen — the marks
of blood, the broken furniture, the blackened
walls, the . shreds of ladies' dresses, and even the
locks of their hair, and, more maddening than
all, the tiny boots of English babies who had
been barbarously slaughtered and tossed up on
the bayonets of the rebels. What the British
soldiers, heroically strong in their numerical
weakness, now longed with a fierce and over-
mastering desire to do was to cross ba^^onets
with those incarnate fiends whom they had
already swept back behind the walls of Delhi.

These walls, with a circumference of about
seven miles, were made of large blocks of grey
freestone, crowned b}- a good loopholed parapet.
At intervals along the circumference the}- were
provided with bastions, each armed with ten,
twelve, or fourteen guns, a hundred and fourteen
in all, in addition to sixty field-guns. The city
had ten gates, strong, and aptly named after
the cities or provinces towards which they
opened — Cashmere, Cabul, Lahore, etc. The
walls were about twenty-four feet in height,
while in front ran a dry ditch, twenty -five feet
wide and about twenty feet deep. The counter-
scarp — i.e. the outer side of the ditch — and
the glacis, or smooth open slope leading away
from the edge of the ditch, were such as to
move the admiration of the English engineers.
One side of the city, the eastern, was washed by
the broad and deep Jumna, and could not be
thought of. On the other hand, with his tiny
force, it was equally impossible for Barnard
to invest the whole place. So he selected the
northern front of the city as the object of his
attack when he should be in possession of heavy
enough siege-artiller}- to breach the wall and
let in the avenging flood.

THE SIEGE AND STORMING OF DELHI.

127

Meanwhile his position was the famous
" Ridge " — a rocky elevation of about sixty feet
above the general level of the city, extending
along a line, obliquely to the front of attack, of
a little over two miles, its left resting upon the
Jumna some three miles above Delhi, and its
right approaching the Cabul gate at a distance
of about a thousand yards. Prominent points
on this " Ridge " were the Flagstaff Tower, a
ruined mosque, an ancient observatory, Hindoo
Rao's House, and Swami House, which, in the
mouth of Tommy Atkins, speedily became
" Sammy " House. These were all good points
in favour of the British. But, on the other
hand, the rebels, sallying out
of the city, could profit by
the cover afforded them by
the suburban villages (Sub-
zee Mundee, or " vegetable
market," the chief of them),
gardens, groves, house-
clusters, and walled enclo-
sures, to indulge in a per-
petual series of attacks on
the British position. For
though the English had
come to besiege, the few-
ness of their numbers and
the temporar}^ want of
heavy guns reduced them
at first to the position of
besieged ; and for a long
time — more than three
months, in fact — their
energies were consumed in

fending oft" the ferocious sorties of the Delhi
garrison. These sorties they began on the
very day after the sitting down of the British
on the " Ridge," but were sent packing back
again with serious loss. The repulse of their
first sally was mainly due to the bravery of
the famous Corps of Guides, composed of
stalwart frontier men of all races, arrayed in
their own loose, dusky shirts, and sun-proof,
sword-proof turbans, who had marched into
camp with a swinging stride that very morning,
after moving for twenty-seven miles a day for
three weeks, at the hottest time of the year —
one of the greatest feats of the war. Three
hours after their arrival they were launched
against the rebels, whom they pursued up to the
city walls, but at the cost of their dearly-loved
commander, Lieutenant Quintin Battye. " Now
I have a chance of seeing service," he had joy-
fully exclaimed on setting out with his regiment,

MAJOR TOMBS

for he was a keen soldier, a good swordsman,
and a splendid rider. But he fell in his very first
fight, saying gaily to a comrade as he breathed
his last : '' Well, old fellow, didce et decorum
est pro patrid mori ; you see it's my case.'"

A few days after this General Barnard, be-
lieving with Macbeth that " 'twere well it were
done quickly," had yielded to a scheme for
storming the city ofFright — a scheme in which
the bold and fier}- Hodson had a prominent
share. Under cover of the darkness, two
columns were to steal up to as many gates,
blow these in with gunpowder, and then rush
into the city. But owing to a misunderstanding
on the part of one of the
commanders, the plan had
finally to be abandoned
— much to the disgust of
the younger members of
Barnard's staff, who were
simply dying for the per-
formance of such a feat.
Another council of war
debated the chances of its
success ; but cautious — call
it not timorous — counsels
meanwhile prevailed, for
the news of a repulse,
following upon an ill-ad-
vised assault, would have
added fresh fuel to the fire
of the mutiny, which was
now blazing up more furi-
ously than ever, beyond the
extinguishing power of
rivers of blood, over the length and breadth of
Hindostan.

From every part of the country the mutineers
continued to stream in to Delhi, and ever, as
fresh contingents arrived, they were sent out to
tr}- their prowess on the holders of the " Ridge " ;
and hold it they did with a tenacity which
neither wounds, nor death, nor disease, nor
pestiknce could in the least degree relax. ^\\
the men's tents they made merry, and, like the
Greeks before Troy, had their sports just as if
they had been far away at home on the village-
greens of Old England. Stricken to death, the
soldier told his officer he would soon be up again
and ready for another brush with the mutineers.
In the space at our disposal we cannot detail, we
can scarcely enumerate, the actions that were
fought in front of Delhi— more than thirty of
them in twelve weeks, and all to the glory of the
British name. Let one or two instances of

12J

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

conspicuous personal valour before the foe serve
to illustrate the spirit which animated all our
little besieging army.

" I must tell you," wrote an officer, " of a
noble action of Lieutenant Hills of the Artillerj^
(a young man who only four 3'ears ago had been

Disgraceful to say, the Carabineers turned and
bolted. His guns being limbered up, he could
do nothing, but, rather than fly, he charged them
by himself. He fired four barrels of his revolver
and killed two men, hurling the empty pistol in
the face of another and knocking him off his

"IT WAS BAYONET TO BAVO.MET " (/. I30).

a pupil at the Edinburgh Academy). He was
on picket, with his two horse-artillery guns,
when the alarm was sounded and an order sent
him to advance, given under the impression that
the enemy were at some distance. He was
supported by a body of Carabineers — eighty,
I believe, in number. He advanced about
100 yards, while his guns were being limbered
up to follow, and suddenly came on about
120 of the enemy's cavalry close upon them.

horse. Two horsemen then charged full tilt at
him, and rolled him and his horse over. He
got up with no weapons, and, seeing a man on
foot coming at him to cut him down, rushed at
him, got inside his sword, and hit him full in the
face with his fist. At that moment he was cut
down from behind, and a second blow would
have done for him had not Tombs, his captain,
the finest fellow in the service, Avho had been in
his tent when the row began, arrived at the

THE SIEGE AND STORMIN(& OF DELHI.

129

critical moment and shot his assailant — by a
splendid shot, fired at thirty paces. Hills was
able to walk home, though his wound was
severe ; and on the road Tombs saved his
life once more by sticking another man who
attacked him. If they don't both get the
Victoria Cross, it won't be worth having."
But they both did.

Another personal exploit of a similar kind
was thus recorded by an officer : — " We took
Khurkonda by surprise, and Hodson immediately
placed men over the gates and we went in.
Shot one scoundrel instanter^ cut down another,
and took a ressaldar (native officer) and some
sowars prisoners, and came to a house occupied
by some more, who would not let us in at all.
At last we rushed in, and found the rascals
had taken to the upper storey, still keeping us
at bay. There was only one door and a kirkee
(window). I shoved in my head through the
door, with a pistol in my hand, and got a clip
over my turban for my pains. My pistol missed
fire at the man's breast, so I got out of that
as fast as I could, and then tried the kirkee with
the other barrel, and very nearly got another
cut. We tried every means to get in, but could
not, so we fired the house, and out they rushed
— running amuck among us. The first fellow
went at Hugh (the writer's brother), and some-
how or other he slipped and fell on his back. I
saw him fall, and, thinking he was hurt, rushed
to the rescue. A Guide got a chop at the fellow,
and I gaf\-e him such a swinging back-hander
that he fell dead. I then went at another fellow
rushing by my left, and sent my sword thrpugh
him like butter, and bagged him. I then looked
round and saw a sword come crash on the
shoulders of a poor little boy — oh, such a cut !
and up went the sword again, and the next
moment the boy would have been in eternity ;
but I ran forward and covered him with my
sword and saved him."

" What a sight our camp would be,'' wrote
another officer, " even to those who visited
Sebastopol ! The long lines of tents, the
thatched hovels of the native servants, the rows
of horses, the parks of artillery, the British
soldier in his grey linen coat and trousers, the
dark Sikhs with their red and blue turbans, the
Afghans with the same, their wild air and
coloured saddle-cloths, and the little Goorkhas,
dressed up like demons of ugliness in their black
worsted Kilmarnock bonnets and woollen coats.
In the rear are the booths of the native bazaars,
and further out, on the plain, thousands of

camels, bullocks, and horses that carry our
baggage. The soldiers are loitering through
the lines or in the bazaars. Suddenly an
alarm is sounded, and everyone rushes to his
tent. The Infantry soldier seizes his musket
and slings on his pouch ; the artilleryman
gets his gun horsed ; the Afghan rides out to
explore ; and in a few minutes everyone is
in his place.''

Such was the state of the camp in repose.
And now for a picture, from another hand, of

the same camp when roused into action. " I
was out this night," wrote an officer, " in one of
our principal batteries with a party of my Guides,
placed there to protect the guns ; and I shall
never forget the scene at two o'clock in the
morning. The sight was a most magnificent
one — all our batteries and all the city ones were
playing as hard as they could, the shells bursting,
round shot tearing with a whooshing sound
through our embrasures, the carcasses (or large
balls of fire) flying over our heads, the musketry
rolling and flashing, made the place as light as
day. The noise was terrific, though the roar of
the cannon was frequently drowned in the roar
of human voices, for, when the whole city turned

I^O

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

out, there could not have been less than 20,000
voices all screanung at once. The mutineers'
yell of ' Allah .' Allah ! Allah Akbar ! Allah
Akbar I ' was answered by our jolly English
hurrahs, and the din was most frightful. I never
remember seeing such a beautiful sight or
hearing such a noise. The mutineers, though
they tried very hard to take our batteries, could
not succeed, though some of them got up near
enough to throw hand-grenades into them.
The grand attack lasted about two hovirs, when
the enemy gave in a little, though thev didn't
retire. The fighting went on all the rest of the
night, and up to two o'clock next day, when
both sides retired. We were all glad of a little
rest, as most of us had been fighting for upwards
of thirt}' hours."

It was only after the 23rd of June that the
prospects of the besiegers had begun to brighten.
This was the hundredth anniversarv of the day
on which Clivc, at Plassey, had founded British
rule in India ; and there had been a superstitious
belief among the natives that on this centenary
the English Raj would also come to an end.
Accordingly, the Delhi mutineers, hounded on
bv their priests and astrologers, as well as
encouraged bv copious draughts of bhang (the
native intoxicant), made an unusually vigorous
push for the British position with intent to turn
it and assail it in the rear ; but they were finallv
repulsed with great slaughter, carrying back
with them the bitter conviction that, far from
being exterminated, the British Raj was now
again in a fair way of being restored to its
previous supremacy.

But perhaps the most brilliant action fought
in front of Delhi — or, rather, several miles to
the west of it — was that of Nujuf-gurh. The
mutineers had got to know that our heavy
siege-train, with but a slender escort, was at last
approaching, and they determined to make a
dash for it. But this was a game at which two
could pla}-, and Brigadier Nicholson, one of
the greatest heroes of the war, who had by
this time come down from the Punjab to take
part in, and indeed conduct, the siege, was
despatched with the Movable Column to do
diamond cut diamond against the rebels. He
found them in averv strong position, and greatlv
superior to him in numbers and guns. But
what did that matter ? Turning to his infantry,
whom he ordered to lie down to avoid the
showers of grape. Nicholson thus addressed
them: "Now. bist, I have but a few- words
to say. You all know what Sir Colin Campbell

said to you at Chillianwallah, and you must also
have heard that he used a similar expression
(to his Highlanders) at the Alma : that is, ' Hold
your fire till within twenty or thirty yards of
the battery, and then, my boys, we will make
short work of it.' "

Let one of xVicholson's officers now take up
the tale : — " Our guns went away to the
flank. We got ' Fix bayonets ; quick — march ! '
On we went, in a beautiful line, at a steady
pace. On we went, and we got within
some fift)' yards of them, when the men gave
a howl, and on we dashed, and were slap
into them before they had time to depress the
guns. It was bayonet to bayonet in a few
moments, but we cut them up and spiked the
guns. We had very few men killed in the
charge, as we got in before the)' fired the grape.
Lieutenant G., 6ist, was bayoneted b}' a sepoy
after cutting down two. N. shot the man
that did it. He had his horse shot under him,
and I saw him hand-to-hand with a sepoy, whom
he polished oflF with his sword. . . On we went
after the brutes, and cut up a heap at the serai
and behind it. We then drew up in line, rallied,
and went at the camp, took it, sent a party to
take the village, and then we went and took
the guns at the bridge, over which the enemy
was bolting in thousands. Here we took six
guns more. Up came our guns, and blazed
away at the enemy, and off they went, leaving
a host of stores, etc., all along the road. . . I was
so tired that I lay down on a hide and fell
asleep. Next morning the work of destruction
was finished, and off we marched with a lot of
treasure, etc., and thirteen guns, and brought
all safe into camp, after a hard march, arriving
at the camp-bridge just in the cool of the
evening, when the camp turned out to meet us,
and gave us ' three times three,' and played us
in with some lively airs, with a final ' Hip — hip —
hurrah ! ' for the gallant 6 1st, who had reserved
their fire, as the Highlanders of the ' thin, red
line ' had done at Balaclava, until they had
almost seen the whites of their enem^-'s eyes,
and then ' given them beans ' with bullet and
bavonet."

On the 4th of September the siege train,
each gun drawn by twenty pairs of bullocks, at
last arrived, and the hearts of all the British
beat high at the thought that the assault must
now soon be delivered on the doomed cit}'.
Two days later also considerable reinforcements
came in, bringing up our little siege army to
6,:oo infantry, 1,000 cavalry, and 600 artillery

THE SIEGE AND STORxMlKG OF DELHI.

131

--of which only 3,317 were British troops, and
the European corps were now mere skeletons of
their former selves. In order to stimulate the
spirits of this miscellaneous host, Wilson issued
a general order, in which he expressed his as-
surance that " British pluck and determination
will carry everything before them, and that the
bloodthirst}' and murderous mutineers whom we
are lighting will be driven headlong out of
their stronghold and exterminated " ; but, to
enable them to do this, he warned the troops of
the absolute necessity of their keeping together,
vind not straggling from theij- columns. By this
only could success be secured. " Major-General
Wilson," he continued. " need hardly remind
the troops of the cruel murders of their officers
and comrades, their wives and children, to move
them to the deadly struggle. No quarter
should be given to the mutineers ! At the
same time, for the sake of humanity and the
honour of the country they belong to, he calls
upon them to spare all women and children
that may come in their way."

Meanwhile the Engineers, directed by Baird-
Smith, another of the giants of this Trojan-
Delhi fray, set to work in the darkness and
silently traced out the siege-batteries. A long
string of camels brought in fascines and sandbags,
and hundreds of men exerted themselves to the
utniost in raising them, as the work had to be
completed before dawn. Showers of grape-shot
were rained on them from the battlements, but
our devoted men worked on with a will, and
by morning Batter}- No. i was in working order
and belching forth its eighteen-pound shot at
such a rate that the Moree Bastion soon became
a heap of ruins. This battery was commanded
by Major Brind, of whom it was said that " he
never slept," and would say to his men as he
shouldered a musket — " Now, you lie and rest ;
3'our commandant will defend the battery.''
'' We talk about Victoria Crosses," said some-
one ; " Brind should be covered with them from
head to foot ! " Battery No. 2, of eighteen
guns, was constructed in two portions on the left
about 500 yards from the Cashmere Gate, its
task being to knock away the parapet right and
left that gave cover to the defenders, and to
open the main breach by which the city was to
be stormed. Conspicuous for his cool bravery in
this battery was a young lieutenant — Roberts —
who had some very narrow shaves during the
siege, but luckily escaped death in all its various
forms to become one of the most distinguished
fighters ever produced by India, that cradle of

great soldiers, and to gain for himself an
immortal name as the hero of the famous march
from Cabul to Candahar.

Two other batteries, Nos. 3 and 4, were also
raised, one of them mounting six eighteen-
pounders ; and at eight o'clock on the morning
of the nth of September a terrific roar an-
nounced that our biggest breaching-guns had
opened fire. A loud cheer, sending the smoke
whirling away in eddies, burst from the throats
of our artillerymen as they saw how well their
fire had taken effect, and beheld huge blocks
of stone tottering and tumbling down from the
parapets of the walls. Cheer after cheer went
up at this most gratifying sight, and in about
ten minutes the enemy's counter-fire from the
bastions had been completely silenced. Yet
they did not at once give up the artillery duel.
For what the}^ could not do from the walls
the}- tried to compass in the open, and ran out
several guns, with which they did great damage
by enfilading our batteries. They also sent out
rockets from their Martello towers, and kept up
a storm of musketry from their advanced trench
as well as from the walls, causing us severe loss.
But who cared for loss when Delhi was there to
be won ? Night and day, day and night, did
our siege-batteries belch forth their thunder-
bolts against the city walls ; and by the 13th of
September it was concluded that the long-
wished-for time had at last arrived. Yet it
behoved the besiegers to proceed with caution,
and so four Engineer officers were selected to
steal forward to the Cashmere and Water Bas-
tions and find out whether the breaches there
were now big enough to allow of the assault.

There was no mo«in, but the sky was bright
with stars, and with the lurid light of flashing
rockets and fire-balls. Suddenly, as the clock
struck ten, the thunder of the guns ceased,
and then the explorers, drawing their swords
and feeling for their revolvers, began to creep
towards the ditch. Medley and Lang, Home
and Greathed were the officers who had volun-
teered for this perilous service. The two
former got down into the ditch undiscovered ;
but then, to quote the words of Medley him-
self, " a number of figures appeared on the top
of the breach, their forms clearly discernible
against the bright sky, and not twenty yards
distant. We, however, were in the deep shade,
and they could not apparently see us. They
conversed in a low tone, and presentl}- we heard
the ring of their steel ramrods as they loaded.
We waited quietly, hoping they would go away.

132

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

when another attempt might bj; made. Mean-
while, we could see that the breach was a good
one, the slope easy of ascent, and that there
were no guns on the flank. We knew by ex-
perience, too, that the ditch was easy of descent.
It was, however, desirable to get to the top, but

Major Keid, was told off to assault the suburb
of Kissengunge and support the main attack
by effecting an entrance at the Cabul Gate
after it should be taken ; and the fifth, under
Brigadier Longfield, was to follow the first
and act according to circumstances.

By three o'clock the
whole camp was astir.
Many of the officers
and men had taken
the Holy Communion
the night before, and
in some tents the Old
Testament lesson for
the day had been read
— the chapter being that
in which the doom of
Nineveh was foretold.
Some 6,000 men, of
whom only about 1,200
were British soldiers,
were going to take a
walled city defended by

THE I'ALACE, DELHI.

the sentries would not
move."' Medley then gave
the signal, and the party
started to return to the
camp. But the sound of
their departing feet be-
trayed them. " Directlv
we were discovered a voile}-
was sent after us ; the balls
came whizzing about our
ears, but no one was
touched." A favourable
report being also received

from Home and Greathed, orders were given for
the assault at dawn.

The infantry of the storming force was
divided into five columns, the duty of the first,
under Brigadier Nicholson, being to storm the
breach near the Cashmere Bastion. The second,
under Brigadier Jones, had likewise to storm
the Water Bastion. To the third, commanded
by Colonel Campbell, fell the task of storming
through the Cashmere Gate after it had been
blown in ; while the fourth column^ under

-/--^

iPholo : Frith Sr Co.. Rcigate.

THE CHAND.NEE CHOl'K, dELHI.

30,000 desperate and disciplined rebels. The
news of the foul and treacherous massacre at
Cawnpore by the Nana Sahib had by this
time reached the soldiers, and inflamed their
hearts anew with the desire to take fearful
vengeance on such barbarous foes. They had
suffered more than tongue could tell ; but the
hour of their retribution and their great reward
was now at hand.

Suddenly the roar of the guns ceased, and the
columns started to their feet as the Rifles, with

"THE STORMERS DASHED OVER THE DEBRIS OF THE BREACH" (/. 133).

THE SIEGE AND STORMING OF DELHI.

a loud cheer, dashed to the front in skirmish-
ing array. In a stern silence the storming
columns tramped away towards the ditch ; but
it was now bright da}-, for, owing to some
hitch, they had not been able to move with the
dawn. The consequence Avas that before they

13?

men, leaping down after them, planted them
against the scarp and swarmed up. Nicholson
himself, the "Lion of the Punjab," as he was
well called, was the first to mount the breach,
waving with his sword for his men to follow.
In a similar manner Lieutenant Fitzgerald

"OUR DEVOTED MEN WORKED ON WITH A WILL" (/. I31).

had reached the crest of the glacis, with the
Engineers and laddermen in front, numbers of
them had fallen under the truly infernal shower
of bullets that was rained upon them from the
walls. For several minutes the first column
found it impossible to lower the ladders and
descend into the ditch while the fiendish-looking
rebels cursed and yelled at them from the other
side, daring them to come on. Presently the
ladders were thrown into the ditch, and the

led the escalade of the adjoining bastion ancf
fell mortally wounded. With a rousing cheer
the stormers dashed over the debris of the
breach like an irresistible wave bursting in a
breakwater wall. For a few minutes there was
a wild chaos of cheers, groans, yells, blazing of
musketry, and clash of crossing bayonets, and
then the rebels turned and fled like a pack of
wolves, leaving this portion of their ramparts
in possession of the victorious Nicholson.

Meanwhile, the second column on the extreme
left had carried the Water Bastion by an equally
successful, but an equally sacrificial, rush. For
of the thirty-nine laddermen preceding the

134

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

column, twentv-nine were struck down in a
few minutes ; but their comrades seized the
ladders and reared them up against the scarp,
while others rushed up the breach, and bayonet-
ing all before them, drove the rebels from the
walls. Then, turning to the right, the stormers
swept along the ramparts towards the Cashmere
Bastion, where thev were joined by some of
Nicholson's men, and, rushing ever along the
walls, reached the Moree Bastion, where they
slew the gunners and leapt on to the parapets,
sending up a cheer and waving their caps to
their comrades on the Ridge as a signal of
victory.

All this work had been short and sharp, and
done with a splendid courage. But perhaps the
scene of the finest acts of individual heroism
was the Cashmere "Gate, where the third column,
under Colonel Campbell, had meanwhile also
forced an entrance in the following manner :
Covered by the fire of the both Rifles, a party
of sappers and miners advanced at the double
toward the Cashmere Gate. Lieutenant Home,
with Sergeants Smith and Carmichael, and
Havildar Mahoo leadmg and carrying the
powder-bags, followed by Lieutenant Salkeld,
Corporal Burgess, and some others. They
reached the gatewav unhurt, and found that
part of the drawbridge had been destroyed ;
but passing by the precarious footing sup-
plied by the remaining beams, they proceeded
to lodge their powder against the gate.
The wicket was open, and through it the
enemv kept up a heavv fire upon them.
Sergeant Carmichael was killed while laying his
powder, ..but when this was at last laid, the
advanced party slipped down into the ditch to
allow the firing partv, under Lieutenant Salkeld,
to do its duty. While endeavouring to fire the
charge, Lieutenant Salkeld was shot through
the leg and arm. and handed over the match
to Corporal Burge s, who fell mortally wounded
just as he had successfully done his duty. Then
a terrific thunder-roar and explosion, scattering
large masses of masonr}', and mangled human
forms in all directions, announced that these acts
of heroism had been crowned with success.
Lieutenant Home now ordered Bugler Haw-
thorne to sound the regimental call of the 52nd
Regiment as the signal for the advance of
the column ; and this was thrice repeated, lest,
amid the noise and tumult of the assault, the
tones of the trumpet should not be heard. Then,
after having thus coolly blown his bugle, the
brave Hawthorne turned to Lieutenant Salkeld

and bound up his wounds under a heavy
musketry fire, thus ensuring for himself the
\'ictoria Cross, which was also conferred on the
few survivors of this "glorious deed — the noblest
on record in military history," as Baird-Smith
justly called it when bringing it to the notice
of his chief. " Salkeld mortalh' wounded," said
another writer, " handing over the portfire and
bidding his comrade light the train, is one of
those incidents which will remain till the end of
time conspicuous on the page of history."

With a way thus opened up for it, Colonel
Campbell's storming column now burst into
the city, slaughtering all it met ; and was only
stopped in its career of conquest when it reached
the Chandnee Chouk, or Piccadilly of Delhi,
running right through the citv from the
Lahore Gate to the Palace.

In the meantime Major Reid's fourth column,
w^hose task was to advance against the Cabul
Gate, had been less successful — had, in fact, come
to grief. For having to fight his way through
some suburbs affording splendid cover to the
rebels, his men were very much cut up, and, on
the fall of their leader, had to retiie. At one
time it was gravely feared that the enemy,
elated with their success at this point, would
issue in overwhelming numbers and seek to turn
the flank of the British outside position and
thus threaten the camp. But at the critical
moment Hope Grant brought up the Cavalry
Brigade, which had been covering the assaulting
columns, and made the rebels pause. For two
hours the troopers, drawn up in battle array, sat
like statues, while the ranks were every minute
rent by musket ball and grape. Not a man
flinched from his post, though under this galling
fire for two hours. Of Tombs' troop alone
twenty-five men out of fifty, and seventeen
horses were hit. The 9th Lancers had thirty-
eight men wounded, sixty-one horses killed,
wounded and missing, and the officers lost ten
horses. Nothing daunted by these casualties,
these gallant soldiers held their ground with a
patient endurance, and on their commander
praising ihem for their good behaviour they
declared their readiness to stand the fire as long
as ever he chose. Against such firmness the foe
could make no headway, and outside the city
their counter-attack was at last foiled.

It would take a volume to describe the course
and incidents of the conquering career of the
various storming columns which had forced their
way into the heart of the cit}' ; but let the fol-
lowing description of ';he doings of Nicholson's

THE SIEGE AND STORMING OF DELHI.

5rst column serve as a sample of the fighting
which had still to be done. The writer, Air.
Forrest, drew up his narrative after visiting the
spot in the company of Lord Roberts.

"On reaching the head of the street at the
Cabul Gate, the enemy again made a resolute
stand, but were speedily driven forward. A por-
tion of the first column was halted here, and
proceeded to occupy the houses round the Cabul
Gate, Avhile the remainder continued the pursuit.
As the troops advanced up the Rampart Road,
die enemy opened a heavy and destructive fire
from the guns on the road and a field-piece
planted on the wall. The English soldiers,
raising a shout, rushed and took the first gun on
the road, but were brought to a. check within
ten yards of the second by the grape and
musketry with which the enemy plied them,
and by the stones and iron shot which they
rolled on them. Seeking all the scanty shelter
they could find, the men retired, leaving behind
the gun they had captured. After a short pause
they were re-formed, and the order given to
advance. Once again the Fusiliers, scathed with
fire from both sides, rushed forward and seized
and secured the gun. They plunged forward,
and had gone but a few ^^ards when their gallant
leader. Major Jacob, fell mortally wounded. As
he lay writhing in agony on the ground, two or
three of his men wished to carry him to the
rear ; but he refmsed their aid, and urged them
to press forward against the foe. The officers
bounding far ahead of their men, were swiftly
struck down, and the soldiers, seeing their leaders
fail, began to waver. At this moment the heroic
Nicholson arrived, and, springing forward, called
with a stentorian voice upon the soldiers to
follow him, and instantly he was shot through
the chest. Near the spot grows a tall, graceful
tree, and Nicholson ordered himself to be laid
beneath its shade, saying he would wait there
till Delhi was taken. But for once he was dis-
obeved and removed to his tent on the Ridge."

Had Nicholson been allowed to lie under the
tree, he would have had to wait several days yet
before the capture of the city was completed. So
far the besiegers had done little more than effect
a foothold within its walls, and at a cost of 66
officers and i,ioo men in killed and wounded —
or about two men in nine. The bullets of the
rebels had worked sad havoc among the stormers,
and what these bullets had spared drink and
debauchery threatened to destroy. For, knowing
the weakness of the British soldier for strong
drink, the rebels had cunningly strewn the

deserted shops and pavements with bottles of
beer, wine, and spirits ; and now there ensued
scenes of revelry and abandoned indulgence in
liquor which recalled to mind the assault and
capture of Badajoz. But the demon of destruc-
tion filled the breast of the British soldier as
well as the demon of drink, and though, true to
the injunction of his commander, he spared, and
was even kind to, women and children, he
slaughtered without mercv all the males who
crossed his avenging path. But if provocation
be any excuse for massacre, or blood be the just
equivalent of blood, then certainly the British
soldier in Delhi must have had many apologists.

The task of carrying the rest of the town was
carried out day by day with skill and caution.
From the first a continuous fire from our guns
was kept up on all the remaining strongholds of
the rebels — the Palace, J iirnma Musjid, etc. ; and
at dawn on the i6th the magazine was stormed
and taken with but slight loss. The same day
the rebels evacuated the suburb Kissengunge.
On the evening of the 19th the Burn Bastion
was surprised and captured by a party from the
Cabul Gate, and early next morning the Lahore
Gate, to which the Engineers had sapped their
way through the adjacent houses, was taken,
as well as the Garsten Bastion ; finally, on the
same afternoon, the gates of the Palace, which
had witnessed the cruel murder of English
officers, women, and children, were blown in, and
our troops raised a final shout of victory before
the throne of Bahadoor Shah. That shadow of
a monarch had fled and taken refuge in the
tomb of the Emperor Humayoon, outside the
city ; but here he was sought and found by
Lieutenant Hodson, who, escorted by only a few
sowars, undertook the exceedingly dangerous
task of capturing the king.

The story of this capture, as told by one of
Hodson's comrades, reads like a romance. After
securing his captives, "the march towards the
city began — the longest five miles, as Hodson
said, that he had ever ridden ; for, of course,
the palkees only went at a foot-pace, with his
handful of men around them, and followed by
thousands, any one of whom could have shot him
down in a moment. His orderly told me it was^
wonderful to see the influence which his calm,
undaunted look had on the crowd. They
seemed perfectly paralysed at the fact of one
white man carrying off their king alone.
Gradual Iv, as they approached the city, the
crowd slunk away, and very few followed up to
the Lahore Gate. Then Captain Hodson rode

136

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

on a few paces, and ordered the gate to be
opened. The officer on duty asked simply as he
passed what he had got in his palkees. ' Only
the King of Delhi,' was the answer, on which
the officer's enthusiastic exclamation was more
emphatic than becomes ears polite. The guard
were for turning out to greet him with a cheer,
and could only be repressed on being told that the
king would take the honour to himself. They
passed up the magnificent deserted street to the
Palace Gate, where Captain Hodsoai met the
civil officer, and formally delivered over his
royal prisoner to him. His remark was amusing :
' By Jove ! Hodson, they ought to make you
Commander-in-Chief for this.' "

Next day Hodson returned for the king's
sons, but to them he was less merciful. " I
came," he wrote, "just in time, as a large mob
had collected and were turning on the guard. I
rode in among them at a gallop, and in a few
words I appealed to the crowd, saying that these
were the butchers who had slaughtered and
brutally ill-used helpless women and children,
and that the Government had now sent their
punishment. Seizing a carbine from one of the
men, I deliberately shot them one after another.
I then ordered the bodies to be taken into the
city, and thrown out on the ' Chiboutra,' in front
of the ' Kotwalie,' where the blood of their
innocent victims could still be traced. The
bodies remained before the KotwaUe until this
morning, when, for sanitary reasons, they were

removed. Thus in twenty-four hours, therefore,
I disposed of the principal members of the house
of Timur the Tartar. I am not cruel, but 1
confess I did rejoice at the opportunity of ridding
the earth of these wretches."

This summitry act of vengeance aroused much
difference of opinion as to its justice and
humanity, but Hodson himself wrote : " I am
too conscious of the rectitude of my own
moti\'es to care what the few ma}* say, while my
own conscience and the voice of the many
pronounce me right."

That same night the toast of " Her Majestv
the Queen," proposed by the conqueror o*^
Delhi, was drunk with all honour in the
Dewan-i-Khas b}- the head-quarters staff. Never
had the old building re-echoed with any sound
half so fine. The cheer was taken up by the
gallant Goorkhas of the Sirmoor Battalion who
formed the General's personal guard, and was,
indeed, soon re-echoed all over India, all over
the English world.

Thus, then, ended this famous siege, one of
the greatest and most memorable in the history
of England — a siege which, out of an effective
force that never amounted to 10,000 men, en-
tailed a loss of 992 killed and 2,845 wounded,
apart from all those who died from disease and
exposure ; but a siege, at the same time, which
added an imperishable leaf to England's laurel
crown, and enabled her to retain her imperial
hold on Hindostan.

THE VICTORIA CROSS.

WHAT battle is this?" we can con-
ceive our readers asking ; " and
where is Gishkon ? " The form
of the name may put some on
the right track. In one of the most frequented
regions of Switzerland " -ikons " are as common
as "-inghams" in England, and no one who has
travelled over any of the railwa3's about Zurich or
Lucerne can have failed to notice some instance
of the odd-looking termination. Switzerland is
indeed the country to which we are going, and
among those of our readers who have already
visited that "playground of Europe," we will
venture to say that at least one-half have been
close to, if they have not actually passed over,
the field on which the battle that we are sroinor

o o

to describe was fought. For Gislikon lies not
more than six miles from the top of the world-
famous Rigi ; it is a station on the not less
famous St. Gotthard railway.

Having got so far, we are prepared for further
inquiries, not unmixed with incredulity. It is
hard for us to realise that a battle has been
fought in Switzerland during the last fifty
years. One can almost as easily imagine a
battle in England as in that prosperous little
country, which many of us look upon as almost
an appendage to England, and associate with
nothing more serious than holidays and hotels
and mountain-rambles. The better-informed
have heard of cantons, and probably think that
they are something equivalent to English coun-
ties or French departments ; while the}' suppose
that the country called " Switzerland " has
always been much where it is now, with the
same frontier and the same territory. How
many, we wonder, realise when they cross the
well-known Gemmi Pass from Leukerbad to
Kandersteg that they are passing from one
sovereign State, with its own laws, into another,
and that while the State into which they are
going, Bern, has been part of the Confederation

which is now called Switzerland for more than
500 years, the one which they are leaving,
Valais, only became so at a date when Mr.
Gladstone was already six years old? So it is,
however,- and men much younger than Mr.
Gladstone can remember a time when Bern and
Valais were actually at war with each other,
just as, a few y-^ars later, Penns3-lvania and
Louisiana were at war. Happily, in the case or
Switzerland the war was quickly finished, lasting
hardly as many weeks as the greater conflict
lasted years, and involving, as we shall see, a far
smaller loss of life and property than many wars
which have had far less important results. It is
probably not too much to say that had the
battle not been fought where it was, or had the
issue been different, there would now be no
Switzerland at all on the map of Europe.

Before describing the battle, we must give
some account of the events which led to it.
The years of peace which followed the battle of
Waterloo, were by no means years of domestic
tranquillity for most of the Continental States.
The various absolute governments had been
thoroughly frightened by the events of the
French Revolution, and ruled more absolutely
than ever. The rearrangement of Europe also»
which followed the fall of Napoleon, had, in
many cases, produced much discontent ; and, in
one way or another, every country was going
through a critical period. Kings were driven
from their thrones ; men were constantly pun-
ished for the mere expression of their opinions ;
secret societies were formed, and assassinations
were frequent.

Switzerland, too, had its troubles, though as
the form of government in every canton was
already republican, these took the shape rather
of fights between contending parties than of
rebellion followed by repression. One great cause
of difference was to be found in the various

138

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

oiews as to a revision of the " Federal Pact,"
or treaty, which governed the relations of the
States to the Confederation, the Liberals wishing
to see these drawn closer, while the Conserva-
tives favoured cantonal independence. Other
differences were due to local causes. Thus in
Schwyz a serious quarrel arose over the
use of the common pastures. The
wealthier men who could keep cows were
thought to have unfair privileges over those
who had only sheep and goals. The
former were known as "horn-men," the
latter as " hoof-men." They represented the
Clerical (or Conser-
vative) and Liberal
parties respectively,
and the Federal
Diet had, in 1838,
to interfere to keep
the peace between
them. The com-
parative strength of
parties varied very
much in the different
States, and even in
the same State sud-
den changes of feel-
ing were not infre-
quent. Moreover,
matters were com-
plicated by religious
differences. Some
of the cantons were
Catholic, some Pro-
testant, while in
others the popula-
tion was more or
less evenl}' divided
between the two
forms of faith. It
by no means fol-
lowed that the poll- ai"
tical divisions went

on the same lines as the religious ; and in
almost every canton there were representatives
of both parties. Lucerne was the most power-
ful of the Catholic cantons, and until 1841 had
been on the Liberal side, and in favour of a
revision of the Federal Pact. In that year,
however, the Government was utterly over-
thrown at the polls, and the Clerical party came
into power, headed by Constantine Siegwart, an
able and ambitious man. who had formerly been
strong on the other side. The neighbouring
canton of Aargau, which was divided between

Catholics and Protestants, and which had only
joined the Confederation in 1803, had in the
previous year found it necessar)- to suppress its
monasteries, which had fomented opposition to
the Government. Lucerne made a strong effort
to persuade the Federal Diet to treat this as a
breach of the Constitu-
tion, according to which
all religions were to be
respected ; and Aargau,
although many of the
Catholic inhabitants were
in favour of the suppres-
sion, only escaped stronger
measures by consenting
to restore some of the
monasteries. This busi-
ness, which was not
finally settled till 1843,
embittered the feeling
between the two cantons,
and in Switzerland
generally. Seven
cantons — Lucerne,
Uri, Schwvz, Unter-
walden, Zug, Fri-
bourg, and Valais —
made a formal pro-
test against the
decision of the Diet
to leave Aargau
alone ; and subse-
quent 1 y f o r m e d
themselves into a
separate league,

" for the protection
of the Catholic reli-
gion." This league
was known as the
Sondcrbjind.
Events now began
iiKN. to move rapidly. In

May, 1844, fighting
took place in Valais, not far from the .spot
where tourists now go to see the " Gorge of
the Trient," and the Liberals, who had been
in power until the previous year, ^vere
driven out, not without bloodshed ; the leaders
only escaping by swimming the Rhone.
About the same time Lucerne called in the
Jesuits to direct education in the canton.
There has alwavs been in Switzerland a good
deal of suspicion of this order, who have
been, rightly or wrongly, believed to exercise a
considerable underhand influence in politics ;

GISLIKOX,

139

indeed; the recent conflict in Valais was thought
to have been instigated by them ; and though
they already had a footing in some cantons,
their introduction into what was at this time the
leading State of the Federation was viewed with
alarm, even by many Catholics and Conserva-
tives ; \vhile it grievously offended all the
cantons in which there was a Liberal majority.
Matters were not improved when the Lucerne
Government seized and imprisoned its leading
opponents. In the following winter and spring
armed bands of irresponsible volunteers from
Aargau, Bern, and other cantons, with some
exiles from Lucerne, made attempts to invade
that State. lu the second and more serious of
these 3,600 men, under
Colonel Ochsenbein
(who, a year or two
later, was President of
the Diet), succeeded,
on March 31st, 1845,
in getting within a
few miles of the city
of Lucerne, but were
beaten back by the
cantonal troops, with
a loss of 140 killed and
1, 800 prisoners. Here-
in they got no more
than they deserved ;
but the Lucerne
Government put it-
self in the wrong by

the extreme severity, amounting to a Reign of
Terror, with which it now proceeded to treat
its opponents, and by the undisguised manner
in which it promoted the organisation of the
separate league. The Government also began
to intrigue with foreign powers, especially France
and Austria, obtaining arms from the former and
money from the latter. Three thousand muskets
w'ith ammunition which the Austrians attempted
to forward from Milan, were impounded by the
authorities of Canton Ticino ; and so audacious
were the Lucerne Government grown, that they
actually complained of this as a violation of
State rights.

It was obvious that the remaining fifteen
cantons, comprising nearlv five-sixths of the
whole population, could not long tolerate the
presence of this hostile league in their midst. A
glance at the map will show that of the seven
cantons composing it, one, Fribourg, lies apart,
while the others stretch continuousl}' from
the extreme south-west of Switzerland, near

LUCERNE AND SURROUNDING DISTRICT.

Chamonix, away to the Lake of Zurich. Not
only do they divide the Confederation almost in
two, but they hold three out of the five main
roads which lead through Switzerland into Italy
including the two which at that time were, and
probably still are, by far the most frequented —
the Simplon and the St. Gothard. Moreover,
the attitude of the Great Powers showed plainly
that the very existence of Switzerland as a
separate and independent nation was at stake.
None ot the Continental Governments had any
love for the little State, which, besides showing
that men could live and thrive under a re-
publican constitution, was always ready to offer
shelter to those of their subjects whose political

views made residence
in their native
countries unsafe. Ac-
cordingly, we find the
Protestant King of
Prussia no less anxious
than the Protestant
M. Guizot, Minister
of Louis Philippe, for
the success of the
Catholic Sonderbund;
while Austria and
Sardinia, who a few
months later were to
be at each other's
throat, agreed at least
in sending help to
Lucerne.
The task of the loyal cantons was not easy.
In several of them parties were very evenly
divided. The only central authority at this
time consisted of the Federal Diet, in which
every canton, no matter what its size, had an
equal representation, while the members were
only deputies, bound to vote as the majoritv of
their State directed them. The important
canton of St. Gallen, the fifth in numbers, and
one of the wealthiest, was long in deciding. The
Catholics form about three-fifths of the population
there, and it was not till May, 1847, that the
local elections resulted in a Liberal majoritv, and
consequently the return of a Liberal member to
the Diet. On July 20th the Diet was at last able
to pass a resolution calling upon the Sonderbund
to dissolve itself, as being in contravention of the
Federal Constitution. The next three months
were spent in efforts to bring this about peace-
ablv, but the leaders had gone too far to retreat.
They relied, also, not merely on the intervention
of the Great Powers, but on their OAvn favourable

140

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

position in a district almost inaccessible from
most sides, on the ancient reputation of the
so-called " Forest Cantons " — Schwyz, Uri,
Unterwalden, and Lucerne, which had been
the original cradle of Swiss liberty.

AT FKIBOURG.

On October 2Qth the Sonderbund deputies
offered to dissolve their league, but only on
conditions which were equivalent to a concession
by the other side of all the claims to assert which
the league had been formed, and on the rejection
of these terms by the majority, the}- left the
Diet, Bernard Me3'er, the deputy from Lucerne,
calling upon God to decide between them. " You
had better not speak of God," exclaimed the
deputy from Catholic Solothurn ; " this business
is not His, but the Devil's work." On Novem-
ber 4 the Diet finall}' resolved that the Sonder-
bund be put down by force of arms, that the
frontiers of the seceding cantons be occupied,
and all intercourse with them be broken off.

The command of the Federal forces had been
entrusted to Colonel William Henr}-^ Dufour, of
Geneva. Switzerland possesses no standing
army ; but every able-bodied man goes through
military training, and there is a permanent staff
of superior officers, on which Dufour held the
post of Quartermaster-General. He Avas now
sixty years old ; and though in his youth he had
served in the French army during all the time of
Napoleon's great campaigns, and risen to the
rank of captain, he had seen no active service,
having passed those stirring years as an engineer-
officer in the island of Corfu, which for most of
the time was blockaded by the English fieet.
When Geneva became part of Switzerland, in
181 5, he transferred his services to the Con-
federation, and gained a considerable reputation
as a student and teacher
of military science. He
was also at the head of
the Commission which
from 1833 onwards was
engaged in the produc-
tion of the finest map of
an}' country which up
till then had existed —
Ordnance Map of Swit-
zerland. Only a few days be-
fore he had remarked to one
of his officers that it was lucky
for them both that their duties
would prevent them from
taking an active part in the
conflict ! As the result showed,
no better man could have been
chosen. On October 25th he
received the rank of General,
and took the oath of office as
Commander-in-Chief. In a
few days he had under his
a force of nearly 100,000 men and 174

orders
guns.

The
find a

Sonderbund leaders had been unable to
commander among the citizens of the

seceding cantons. Their choice finally fell
upon Colonel Ulrich Salis-Soglio, of Chur in
Graubiinden. Like Dufour, he was an elderly
man, but had had the advantage of actual
military experience. He had served in the
Bavarian army during the Leipzig campaign,
and had distinguished himself at the battle of
Hanau. For twenty-five years he had been an
officer in the Swiss regiment in the Dutch
service. He is described as a man of charming
manners and chivalrous courage ; but by nc>

GISLIKON.

141

means Dufour's equal as a strategist. Curiously
enough he was a Protestant. The Sonderbund
forces amounted in all to about 78^000 men
and 72 guns. He commanded only the forces
of the "Forest Cantons" and Zug. General
Maillardoz commanded in Fribourg, General
Kalbermatten in Valais.

Dufour's first care was to secure himself from
attack in the rear by subduing Fribourg, which,
as we have said, is separated by the cantons of
Bern and' Vaud from the rest of those com-
posing the Sonderbund. His strategy for this
purpose was simple, but effective. The town of
Fribourg is not more than sixteen or seventeen
miles from Bern, in a westerly direction. It was
strongly fortified, and defended by a force of

his first division, under Colonel Rilliet, to
advance in three brigades from Vevey, Moudon,
and Payerne, in Canton Vaud, with instructions
to reach Matran, some four miles south-west of
Fribourg, on November 12th. This manoeuvre
was executed punctually. At the same time
Colonel Burckhardt's division, which had been
stationed in Canton Bern, instead of advancing
directly upon Fribourg, made a night-march to
the right, and took up a position about the
same distance north-west of the town. Lastly,
Colonel Ochsenbein was directed to make a
demonstration on the side of Bern, so as to
draw off the attention of the defenders from
the movements on the west and north, and at
the same time to watch the approaches from

"major scherrer seized the colours" (/. 144).

from 12,000 to 15,000 men. The defenders
naturally expected that the attack would come
from the direction of the Federal capital, and
they had made their arrangements to resist it
on that side by throwing up batteries and
blocking the roads with trees. Dufour caused

the south. These dispositions were all so
accurately carried out that on the morning or
November 13th Dufour was able to send a missive
to the mayor of Fribourg, pointing out that his
city was surrounded by superior forces — they
were from 25,000 to 30,000 men, with sixty

142

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

guns — and that under the circumstances he
could surrender without discredit. The authori-
ties of the citv !-a\v the force of his arguments,
and agreed to an armistice for twenty-four
hours ; and on the following day a capitulation
was signed, the first article of which bound
Fribourg to leave the Sonderbund forthwith.
This success was not quite bloodless, for on the
afternoon of the 13th some of the outposts of
the first division who were stationed in a wood
on the west of a town, and had not heard of the
armistice, made, under some misconception, an
attack upon a redoubt which was close in front
of them. The artillery on both sides came into
action, and the Federal troops lost seven killed
and fifty wounded.

The fall of Fribourg, says Dufour, fell like a
thunderclap on the Sonderbund, and astonished
the rest of Fiurope. His own task became much
easier, owing to the spirit of cheerfulness and
unanimity which now took the place of the
indecision and even reluctance which had been
felt in many quarters. He lost no time in
grappling with the more arduous part of his
work — the subjection of Lucerne. Hitherto he
had given strict orders to his subordinate com-
manders that they were to act entirely on the
defensive, and his orders had been obeyed,
though to do so must have required some self-
restraint on the part of those officers. For the
Sonderbund forces were by no means inactive.
The canton of Aargau runs down in a long
tongue between Lucerne and Zug, forming the
district known as the Freiamt. At the northern
end of this tongue, where it widens out to the
full breadth of the canton, is the village of
Muri, where one of the suppressed monasteries
had been situated. Perhaps the Sonderbund
expected to find some sympathisers in that
district. At all eVents, on November 12th a
strong force, in two columns, under General
Salis and his Chief of the StaflF, Colonel Elgger,
respectivel}', entered Aargau, with the intention
of marching by different routes upon Aluri.
The General, starting from Gislikon, entered
the Freiamt at its southernmost point ; while
Elgger, keeping within the territor}' of Lucerne,
was to take a parallel line and approach Muri
from the south-west. It was a foggy day, and
the two columns, separated by a range of lofty
hills, completely lost touch of each other. In
the afternoon, Salis made an attempt to destroy
a bridge which the Federal engineers had
thrown over the river Reuss, to connect Ziirich
with Aargau. But he was met with a stout

resistance, and compelled to retire. Near IMuri
he again fell in with troops from St. Gallen and
Appenzell, who received him with a vigorous
fire, and he found nothing to do but return to
his starting-point. Colonel Elgger was at first
more fortunate, and drove the Aargau troops
back with some loss. His own son, who was
acting as his aide-de-camp, got a bullet in his
head, but lived to edit the Swiss Military
Gazette thirty years later. Presently an order
to the artillery to retire in order to take up a
better position, caused a panic among some
troops from Valais, who probably did not under-
stand the words, anr' >nly saw the movement.
They fled, and Elgger, having lost a part of his
force and hearing the sound of Salis' guns
grow fainter and fainter, had ntjthing to do but
to withdraw. A third column, which was to
have invaded Aargau further to the westward,
succeeded in surprising the Federal outposts
and bombarding an unfortified village ; but did
not wait for the arrival of the Aargau battalions,
which hastened up at the summons of the
alarm-bells.

In the south, where the Fedei il strength was
less, matters for a few days looked more pro-
mising for the Sonderbund. On November 17th
a body of 2000 men, with four guns, crossed the
St. Gotthard Pass in a storm of wind and snow,
and fell upon Airolo. The Ticino troops, who
were holding that place, 2700 strong, hardly
expected a visit in such weather, and allowed
themselves to be surprised. Before the}' knew
what was happening, the village was surrounded
by the riflemen of Uri, and cannon-balls were
crashing through the snow-covered roofs. They
fled in disorder to Bellinzona, with a loss of six
killed and thirty wounded, leaving weapons,
ammunition, baggage, even their colonel's de-
spatch-boxes and dressing-case, in the enemy's
hands. This was the nearest approach to
success which the Sonderbund had. It was
hoped that Ticino, being a Catholic canton, at
least a portion of the population might welcome
the invaders ; but they received no encourage-
ment, and in a few days the approach of the
Federal army to Lucerne rendered their retreat
necessary.

For Dufour did not let the grass grow under
his feet. Two days after the capitulation of
Fribourg had been signed, his head-quarters were
at Aarau, the capital of Aargau, and all his
dispositions made for striking the decisive
bloAv. Lucerne is very well situated for defence
against an enemy approaching from the north.

GISLIKON.

143

The stream of the Reuss, flowing out of the lake
towards the north-west, presently sweeps round
to the north-east. Just at the angle the smaller
River Emme joines it from the south-west, so
that a continuovis obstacle is offered to an
attacking force. Between the Reuss and the
Kussnacht arm of the lake (which washes the
foot of the Rigi) is a range of lofty wooded hills
called the Rooterberg, which continue almost
to the Lake of Zug ; and in the other direction,
a similar line of hills, cut by deep gorges, runs
parallel to the Emme. It was on this latter
side that the ill-starred attempt of the Free
Corps had been made
in 1845. Dufour deter-
mined on this occa-
sion to approach from
the other direction,
along the line of the
Reuss, and between
that river and the
Rooterberg. It was a
hazardous operation :
in his own words,
" taking the bull by
the horns." Gislikon,
the point where the
main road crosses the
river, while that on
the right bank comes
close to it, was strongly
fortified ; and the
Rooterberg afforded
an admirable position
for sharpshooters and
artillery. But by ad-
vancing from this side
he would, if success-
ful, separate Lucerne and Schwyz, and would
strike at the heart of the secession. Therefore,
while ordering all the five divisions which he
intended to emplo}-, to converge by various
roads on Lucerne, from east, north, and west,
he resolved to make his main attack with the
fourth and fifth, under Colonels Ziegler and
Gmiir. Of these, the former was at present
quartered in Aarau, the latter between the
Reuss and the Lake of Zurich.

The attack was fixed for November 23rd. Two
days before, the little canton of Zug, which had
entered the Sonderbund somewhat reluctantly,
seeing that further resistance was useless, capitu-
lated, thereby relieving Dufour of anxiety for his
left flank. On the 22nd the General issued a
proclamation to his troops, reminding them that

they were performing a duty to their countr}-,
and bidding them lay aside all feeling of hostility
as soon as the victory was won. They were
specially enjoined to respect all churches and
buildings used in the service of religion, and to
see that no injury was done to non-combatants
or to private property.

That evening Colonel Ziegler's division
bivouacked in the " Freiamt," right up to the
frontier of Lucerne. It was a clear night, and
round the Lake of Zug they could see the watch-
fires of the fifth division, vrhich was now occupy-
ing that canton. In the early morning of the

23 rd the Aargau
engineers threw a
bridge of boats over
the Reuss at Sins,
another being placed
a couple of miles
higher up, at Ober-
riiti. Ziegler, with
two brigades of his
division, under
Colonels Egloff and
Konig, crossed to the
right bank, and came
into touch with
Colonel Gmiir and
the fifth division,
advancing from the
Lake of Zug. The
third brigade, under
Colonel Miiller, was
to remain on the left
bank, and attack Gis-
likon from the direc-
tion of Klein Dietwyl.
It should have acted
in conjunction with the third division, under
Donatz, which occupied the next place to the
westward, but bad roads hindered that com-
mander from arriving in time to take part in the
main action. About nine in the morning the
batteries of Gislikon opened fire upon Miiller's
brigade, compelling it to retire for a time. One of
the first shots killed Captain Buk, a refugee from
Lucerne, who was marching with the column.
Colonel Ziegler, meanwhile, was making progress
on the other side of the Reuss. In spite of the
fire from the Rooterberg, and from the Lucerne
artillery in front of the village of Honau, he
pressed on, and presently his guns coming into
action caused the enemy's batteries to retire.
They made a short stand in Honau, but were
soon forced back upon Gislikon, where regular

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

earthworks had been thrown up. Here they
made a resolute defence, the battery under
Captain Mazzola specially distinguishing itself.
On the other side, Rust's battery (from Solo-
thurn) galloped through Honau, leaving the
infantry behind, and took up its position in an
orchard, five hundred paces — this was before the
days of rifled cannon — from the earthworks. Its
first shot killed and wounded five men in Hegi's
company, which retired, leaving Mazzola's left
flank uncovered. Mazzola, however, literally
" stuck to his guns," though the artillery on the
further side of the Reuss was now playing upon
him, and presently compelled Rust to retire
behind the fighting line, barely saving his guns
from capture by the Lucerne chnssciirs. A
plucky action on the part of one of his sub-
ordinates is recorded. Just after the Solothurn
guns had retired, a body of troops was seen in
the spot they had occupied. In the smoke and
haze of the November day, it was not certain
■whether they were friend or foe. Corporal
PfiflFer asked his captain's permission to go and
ascertain, which Mazzola willingly gave. Pfiffer
left the battery, and went forward till he could
see the others clearly ; then, waving his sword,
:ried : " Fire, Captain ; it is the enemy ! " and
.nade his way back. General Salis, who had
taken up his position in the battery, pressed
a piece of gold into his hand ; but the sturdy
Swiss rejected it, saying : " No need for that,
General ; I only did my duty." The narrator
of this story, himself a bitter partisan on the
Catholic side, adds that Pfiffer was a well-known
adherent of the Liberals. Here, as later in the
American Civil War, when hostilities had once
begun, men put the defence of their homes first,
and let their private opinions wait for quieter
times.

The troops whose identity Corporal Pfiffer had
ascertained were some battalions of Egloff's and
Konig's brigades. These were Appenzellers
under Benziger, and Aargauers under Hausler.
The former could not face the storm of grape
with which they were received, and took shelter
in some gravel-pits. Hausler's men, with whom
the Brigadier-Colonel Egloff was himself riding,
began in their turn to waver. At this moment
Major Scherrer, whose own battalion was also un-
steady, seized the colours, and fi.xing them into
the ground, cried out : " Switzers, do you know
what that means?" Thus encouraged, Hausler's
men held their ground, ajid, presently, through
the personal efforts of Egloff and his staff, the
■fugitives were rallied, and the line restored.

Meanwhile, the Lucerne and Unterwaiden com-
panies had pressed too far in the direction of the
Rooterberg, allowing the Federal skirmishers to
penetrate between them and the artillery, so
that the earthworks were denuded of all covering
infantry. Egloff at once ordered up three
batteries, and under the fire of these, combined
with that from others on the other bank, the
intrepid Mazzola, after nearly an hour's duel
between his one batter}' and five or six of the
enemy's, was compelled to withdraw, and
abandon Gislikon. General Salis, too, who had
taken up his position in the battery, had been
severely wounded in the temple by a grape-
shot, though he made light of his wound, and
refused to leave the fight.

Konig's brigade, meanwhile, to which had
been assigned the duty of clearing the west
slopes of the Rooterberg and sheltering Egloff's
left flank, had met with a sudden resistance.
Again and again they had to fall back, until
Ziegler himself, dismovmting and leading the
right wing, succeeded in pressing the enemy so
far up the hill as to secure Egloff from a flank
attack, and set part of his own main force to
operate against Mazzola. Konig, with the left
wing, attempted to force the position of Michels-
kappel, on the crest of the ridge, but could not
succeed in dislodging the troops from Schwyz
w^ho held it. Gmiir's division, meanwhile, had
captured Mej'erskappel, on the eastern side of
the ridge, and was advancing upon Lucerne by
the road between the hills and the lake.

But the retreat from Gislikon had decided the
battle. At 3 p.m. General Salis gave the order
to retire upon Ebikon, a village not more than
three miles from Lucerne. In the city itself men
had been listening all da}- long, with painful
anxiety, to the thunder of the cannon, but no
news of the fight had reached them. At four,
arrived an orderly from the General, bringing a
message couched in the form usual with defeated
commanders, to the effect that he had been
compelled to retire temporarily upon Ebikon,
but hoped to maintain his ground there for a
time. He added, however, that the loss of
Gislikon had rendered the position of Lucerne
very precarious. A steamer had been in readi-
ness all day, and on the receipt of this news, the
Council-of-War, with Siegwart and Meyer at its
head, went on board, taking the military treasury
and all documents, papers, etc., with them, and
steamed up the lake to Fliielen, leaving orders
to General Salis to arrange for an armistice.
The General himself arrived about 8 p.m.,

GISLIKON.

suffering from his wound, and after giving the
requisite instructions, departed to Unterwalden.
As an old soldier, he doubtless knew that further
resistance meant useless bloodshed. Colonel
Elgger, his Chief of the Staff, had been for two
days maintaining a stout resistance in the Valley
of Entlebuch, west of the city, to the seventh

the Federal troops were allowed to enter peace-
ably, and the Federal flag was displayed, no
warlike measures would be taken.

Accordingly, at midday on the 24th, the
Federal forces marched into Lucerne by all the
gates. Twenty days had finished the civil war.
The total losses were, on the Federal side, 60

rust's battery galloped through honau " {/. 144).

Federal division, under Colonel Ochsenbein —
who had his former defeat on almost the same
ground to avenge — and had hastened back to
Lucerne, when night put an end to further
fighting on the 23rd. He was at first in favgur
of defending the city ; but was soon convinced
of the hopelessness of the situation, and agreed
to communicate with Dufour. At 9 in the
morning of the 24th came the reply that it was
too late to countermand the advance, but that it

killed and 386 wounded ; on that of the Son-
derbund, 36 and 1 19. Dufour attributes the
smallness of these figures to the fact that the
fighting took place in a broken and thickly-
wooded country, where cover was plentiful.
Something was, no doubt, also due to the
inexperience of the gunners.

Great care was taken to prevent any excesses
on the part of the victors. The Bern division,
between whom and Lucerne bitter feelings had

146

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

existed ever since 1845, was not allowed to take
part in the entry into the city, but had to
remain, by Colonel Ochsenbein's orders, in the
suburbs. Dufour ordered a joint *' Church-
parade " to be held, the Catholic troops attend-
ing Mass in the chief church of Lucerne, while
a service was held in the open-air for the Pro-
testants. Subsequently he wrote, " The troops
on both sides showed by their conduct that
every Swiss is a born soldier."'

The Confederation had had a narrow escape.
On the day when war had been declared,
M. Guizot had, on behalf of France, proposed to
the other Great Powers that a joint note should
be sent to the Swiss Diet calling upon them to
submit the questions at issue to foreign arbi-
tration. As it was hardly doubtful that the
proposal would be rejected, this meant armed
intervention, with the certainty of an ultimate
partition of Switzerland. The Continental
Powers were ready enough, but Lord Palmerston,

then English Foreign Secretar}-, who had. as he
said, "no wish to see Switzerland made a Poland
of," managed, by objections and suggestions, ta
postpone the delivery of the note till November
30th. By that time the Diet was able to reply
that there was no longer an}- Sonderbund. In
the course of the following year, Prussia, Austria,
and France had matters enough of their own to
attend to ; and the Swiss were able to proceed
unmolested with the revision of their Constitu-
tion into the form under which the country has
prospered ever since. Formerly a Confederation
of States, they have since 1848 been a Con-
federated State.

The conflict left — except, perhaps, among a
few of the Sonderbund leaders — no ill-feeling
behind. Some years later Dufour could write :
" The citizens of the old cantons (t'.c. the Forest
Cantons) nearly all have pipes with m}- picture
on them, and call me ' Our little Dufour.' " His
long and useful life ended in 1875.

C^A.i,,

LAKE ZUG.

■147

HBOUT ten miles from the Buffalo river,
which forms the eastern frontier of
Natal, rises conspicuous a tall, rocky,
precipitous hill, called in the language
of the natives " Insandhlwana," or "The place
of the little hand," from a fancied resemblance
in its form to an outstretched hand. Near this
hill was fought, on the 22nd January, 1879,
one of the most desperate actions ever en-
gaged in under the British flag. Here, over-
whelmed by numbers, an English force suffered
a complete and most disastrous defeat, and here,
bravely facing inevitable overthrow and death,
English soldiers sternly answered to the call of
duty and fell with honour, grimly defiant to
the last.

Of the actual details of the battle there are
no complete records. The men who could have
furnished them lie under the shade of the hill,
and the veldt grass grows green over their silent
and glorious bed. But sufficient is known, as
much from the subsequent testimony of their
gallant foes as from the words of the few sur-
vivors of the fatal field, to tell us how deter-
mined, though unavailing, was the courage, how
great the self-abnegation, of the warriors who
then maintained the honour of our country.

Let us tell the story as far as it can be gathered,
and if it ends with no shout of victory, at least
we can impress on our minds that the heroic
dead left a memory of which we may be sadly
proud, and that they were not found wanting
in carrying on the noblest traditions of the
English people.

The Zulu kingdom was a military power
that, under a .line of despotic and warlike
sovereigns, had long been a standing menace to
the English colon}^ of Natal and to the Trans-
vaal, the Dutch Republic, which in 1878 was
annexed by England. The first king of Zulu-
land, Chaka, had so organised his realm that it

was always ready for war at short notice, and
his system was maintained by his successors
— Dingaan, Panda, and finally Cetewavo, who
became monarch in 1872. Every able-bodied
Zulu was enrolled in one or other of the king's
regiments, and no one was allowed to marry
without the king's permission. The permission
to marr}^ was generally given as a mark of favour
to a whole regiment at once for long or good
service, particularly if it had " bathed " its
assegais — or, in other words, had covered them
with blood in conflict. The discipline of the
Zulu army was the sternest. Implicit obedience
was required, and every fault was punished with
death. Cowardice was unknown, for the coward
dare not meet the vengeance and wrath of his
king. The saying of each man was, " I am the
king's ox'' — meaning, I accept life or death as
the king may award, and my only business is
to carry out his orders without question. The
burden of one of their war-songs was, " If I go
back I am killed ; if I go on I am killed. It is
better to go on." With such feelings, added to
their natural fierceness and hardihood, influencing
a peculiarly powerful and athletic race of men,
it may be conceived how formidable was the
Zulu array, and with how much truth it came to
be called " a very perfect man-slaying machine."
The war-dress worn bv the Zulu soldiers made
them striking and alarming-looking figures. On
the head of each man was a plume of feathers,
or sometimes a single beautiful feather, taken
from the bell crane, rising a good two feet into
the air. Round his waist hung a kilt of white
oxtails, and beneath his right knee and shoulder
were small circles of white goat's hair. For the
rest, he was naked ; unless he was a chief, in
which case he wore a leopard's-skin kaross, or
cloak, as an emblem of authority. In his left
hand he carried a fighting shield made of ox-
hide, of which the colour varied according to

148

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

the regiment to which he belonged. In his
right hand he held his great broad-bladed
" bangwan," or stabbing assegai. He also had
three lighter and smaller assegais for throwing
as javelins, and a " knobkerrie," or club, made of
hard " umzimbete " wood. Many of them had
rifles, but very few were good shots, and their
fire only became formidable when they had a
broad mark, like a body of men, to aim at.

The Zulu tactics were always the same. They
always tried to attack in a half-circle^ throwing
forward both flanks
of their fighting
force, like two
horns, which strove
to encircle and
threaten the rear
of their enemy,
while their centre,
in successive u^aves
of men, charged to
their front with
irresistible deter-
mination.

It has been said
that the warlike
Zulu kingdom had
been a standing
menace for years to
the European colo-
nies on its frontier.
Except in the towns
these colonies were
only occupied by
farmers, whose soli-
tary homesteads
were scattered over
the country at wide
distances from each
other, each Euro-
pean's house having

near it a small " kraal," or village, where lived the
peaceful and unwarlike Kaffirs who formed the
native population. In days not long gone by,
the first settlers had frequently been obliged to
fight for their lives, and the Dutch names of
such places as " Weenen " (weeping) kept alive
the memory of old Zulu incursions. Many were
the alarms which spread through the country
from time to time lest these incursions should
be renewed, and many were the frontier farms
which had been, in consequence, deserted by
their owners. Causes of dispute had arisen,
moreover, with Cetewayo, and the savage poten-
tate had showed that war would be far from

KING CETEWAYO.

unwelcome to him. The English Governor and
High Commissioner in South Africa in 1878 was
Sir Bartle Frere, one of the ablest of the many
able politicians and administrators who have
been produced by our Indian Empire, and he
did all in his power to induce the Zulu king to
come to such terms as might secure the con-
tinuance of peace — to no purpose. Finally, an
ultimatum was sent to Cetewayo, and he was
warned that if it was not complied with before
the nth January, 1879, operations against him

would be at once
commenced.

It had long been
foreseen in Natal
that war was almost
inevitable, and all
the available troops
had been massed
along the frontier,
under the command
of Lieutenant-

General Lord
Chelmsford, K.C.B.
The whole re-
sources of the
colony had been
organised and pre-
pared for a cam-
paign. There were
seven regiments of
English regular in-
fantry, a naval
brigade, seventeen
guns and a rocket
battery Royal Ar-
tillery, and two com-
panies Royal Engi-
neers. There was
no regular cavalry,
but there were two
squadrons of mounted infantry, and nearly 800
colonial volunteers and police, besides more than
300 native Basuto horse. There was also a native
contingent, about Q,ooo strong. The whole
amounted to 6,63q Imperial and colonial troops,
9,0^; native contingent, with 802 conductors
and drivers in charge of nearly 700 waggons,
forming the transport train.

The period alloAved to Cetewayo for reply to
the ultimatum having expired, a declaration of
war was made by Sir Bartle Frere, who then
placed m the hands of Lord Chelmsford the
further enforcement of all demands.

Lord Chelmsford's army as detailed above was

\ Photo. : Crc

INSANDHLWANA.

149

divided into five columns, which were to march
into Zululand at different points, and to move
on Ulundi, Cetewayo's capital, where they were
expected to be able to concentrate victoriously.
For our present purpose we need only consider

It was under the immediate command of Colonel
Glyn, C.B., and was formed by six guns, R.A.,
one squadron mounted infantry, the 1st battalion
24th Regiment, the 2nd battalion 24th Regi-
ment, about 200 Natal volunteers, 150 Natal
police, three battalions of the native contingent,
and some native pioneers. This force crossed
the Buffalo river on the nth of January, and

•THE CAMP WAS A PICTURESQUE SIGHT" (/. I50).

the 2nd and 3rd columns, as the others were in no
way involved in the operations which led to the
battle of Insandhlwana. The 2nd column, under
Colonel Durnford, R.E., was almost entirely
composed of natives, and was, in the first in-
stance, more intended to be used as support and
communication between the i stand 3rd columns
than for any other purpose. The 3rd column
was the strongest and most important, and to it
Lord Chelmsford attached himself and his staff.

encamped on the further side. The rainy season
was not 3'et over, and not only was there some
difficulty and even danger in crossing the flooded
river, but the broken countrj- in front r,f the
column was nearly impassable from swamps and
heavy ground, so that much road-making had to
be undertaken to enable the guns and transport
to push forward.

A successful attack was made on the 12th

x;o

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

against the Isipezi Hill, but the stubborn resist-
ance that was then made by the induna, or chief,
Sirayo and his followers showed that no final
success was to be hoped for except at the cost
of hard fighting. Several long reconnaissances
were made by the mounted men into Zululand,
and shots were exchanged with detached parties
of the enemy, but there was nothing to show
how fearful a storm was gathering in the horizon
and was nearly ready to burst.

By the 20th of January all the first difficulties
had been overcome, and the 3rd column was
encamped at the foot of the Insandhlwana Hill.
The position of the camp was thus described : —
" We had a small ' kopjie ' (stony hillock) on the
right of our road, and then about fifty yards to
our left rises abruptly the Insandhlwana moun-
tain, entirely unapproachable from the three
sides nearest to us, but on the further — viz.,
that to the north — it slopes more gradually down,
and it is there connected with the large range of
hills on our left by another broad neck of land.
We just crossed over the bend, then turned
sharp to the left, and placed our camp facing
the valley, with the eastern precipitous side of
the mountain behind us, leaving about a mile
of open country between our left flank and
the hills on our left, the right of the camp
extending across the neck of land we had just
come over, and resting on the base of the kopjie
before mentioned."

The camp was a martial and picturesque sight
in the glow of the African sunset. Here were
the tents of the Queen's Infantry, the men
busy cleaning their arms and cooking their
rations, there the long lines of picqueted horses,
there the gun-park, there the swart native con-
tingent, as savage-looking as the foe that they
had come to fight, while the flag of England
waved over the marquee of the general, speak-
ing pride and defiance to all assailants. There
was one fatal mistake, however. The waggons,
which should have been ranged end to end in
front of or round the camp, in the fashion called
in Africa a " laager," forming a defensible bar-
ricade against sudden assault, were drawn up
uselesslv in line behind the camp, and many a
veteran of the old colonial wars saw with appre-
hension that old lessons were neglected, and
that undue confidence had taken the place of
the caution taught by experience.

It was known that, at about twelve miles from
Insandhlwana, there was, on the Inhlazatye
range of hills, the stronghold of a chief called
Matyana ; and on the 21st two separate parties

were despatched from the camp at an early hour
to reconnoitre and, if possible, attack the place.
One of these parties consisted entirely of mounted
men — Natal volunteers and police — under Major
Dartnell, the other of two battalions of the native
contingent under Commandant Lonsdale. Major
Dartnell, the head of the police, was an experi-
enced soldier, who had served with the highest
credit in the English army, and had taken part
in several campaigns. Commandant Lonsdale
was also an old soldier of proved knowledge and
judgment. Major Dartnell's force encountered
Matyana's men about ten o'clock in the morning,
and, though the enemy appeared anxious to
fight, it was not considered prudent to engage
them without supports. The Zulus occupied a
rugged " kloof," or cleft in the hills ; and when-
ever the mounted men approached they sallied
out in large numbers. Mr. Mansel, of the police,
a most daring officer, was sent forward with a
small body to try to make them show their force,
and succeeded in this, as the Zulus advanced to
attack, throwing forward their two " horns " and
trying to surround Major Dartnell. The volun-
teers and police then retired before superior
numbers, and joined Commandant Lonsdale's
men about three miles from the kloof.

The native contingent had shown on several
occasions that they were subject to panics, and
were not to be depended upon ; so Major
Dartnell decided that he and Lonsdale would
bivouac for the night where they were, and sent
a messenger to Lord Chelmsford asking for the
assistance of some regular infantry to enable
them to storm Matyana's position.

In the middle of the night Dartnell's com-
munication was received, and, as it told of the
enemy being in far greater numbers on the
Inhlazatye hills than had been supposed, the
general considered that an overwhelming strength
should be brought against them, and that an
opportvmity was presented of striking a paralys-
ing blow against an important part of the Zulu
army. He therefore ordered the 2nd battalion
24th Regiment, the mounted infantr}', and four
guns to be put under arms at once in readiness
to march, and, placing himself at their head, he
moved with the first faint grey of morning to
join Major Dai'tnell. As this detachment would
considerably weaken the camp. Lord Chelmsford
at the same time sent orders to Colonel Durnford
— who, with a portion of the 2nd column, was
now near Rorke's Drift — telling him to move at
once to Insandhlwana with the rocket batterj'
and the Basuto horse.

INSANDHLWANA.

i=;i

Lieutenant-Colonel Pulleine, of the 24th Regi-
ment, was left in command of the camp. He
had with him six companies of the 24th, two
guns R.A., about eighty mounted men, includ-
ing mounted infantr}-, police, and volunteers,
and four companies of the native contingent.
His orders were to draw in his line of defence
and infantry outposts, but to keep his mounted
vedettes still far advanced.

After the departure of Lord Chelmsford with
the detached column, nothing unusual occurred
in the camp till between seven and eight o'clock,
when it was reported from a picquet about
1,500 yards to the north that a body of the
enemy could be seen approaching from the
north-east, and the appearance of various other
small bodies was subsequently noticed. Then,
in the camp, there was all the bustle of quick
preparation for battle. Lieutenant - Colonel
Pulleine put every available man under arms.
The draught oxen, which had been grazing,
Avere driven into camp and tied to the yokes ;
the native contingent was pushed forward on
advanced duty on the hills to the left ; the
guns were put in position on the left of the
camp ; the mounted men stood ready by their
horses ; and the 24th were formed up, awaiting
the duty which the turn of events might bring.

About ten o'clock Colonel Durnford arrived in
camp, and, as the senior officer, became by right
the commander. He did not, however, take the
dispositions out of Colonel PuUeine's hands, and
the two officers worked cordially together.
Colonel Durnford had served for more than six
years in South Africa, knew the natives and
their customs thoroughly, and, with the most
undaunted valour, which he had proved in war
and to which a disabled arm bore testimony, he
combined a chivalrous and sympathetic heart
towards all who were brought in contact with
him, whether Europeans or natives. A hand-
some, soldier-like man, with a long, fair mous-
tache, he had an anxious expression of face, as
of one who is born to misfortune.

Repeated and more or less conflicting reports
now came rapidly from the outposts on the left :
*' The enemy are in force behind the hills ; "
^' The enemy is in three columns, one moving
to the left rear, and one towards the general ; "
*' The enemy is retiring in all directions." The
estimates of the enemy's strength were most
varied, but none approximated to the real
numbers that were threatening the doomed
English force, and the full extent of the danger
was not realised.

On hearing these reports Colonel Durnford
sent one troop of his Natal Native Horse to re-
inforce his baggage-guard, which had not yet
joined him, and two troops, under Captains G.
Shepstone and Barton, to the hills on the left,
while he himself determined to go out to the
front with the remaining two troops, which were
to be followed by Major Russell's rocket battery,
escorted by a company of the native contingent.

It is here worth while to say a word about the
Natal Native Horse, than which no corps fought
more loyally, bravely, and disinterestedly during
the troubles in South Africa. They were prin-
cipally recruited in Edendale, a Basuto agricul-
tural settlement formed by Wesleyan missionaries,
who had recognised that Christianity could best
be taught to people who had given up a savage
life, and had been trained in and appreciated

VICINITY OF

IXSANDHLWAXA

the arts of peace. The good missionaries had
taught the wild Basutos to build houses, to
make waggons, and to cultivate the ground
scientifically, and, in conjunction with these
benefits, had inculcated the Christian's moral
law and the Christian's sentiments. The settle-
ment at Edendale flourished exceedingly, and
the Basutos became not only prosperous citizens,
but God-fearing men. When war threatened,
they were appealed to to give their services to
the Queen, and they eagerly responded. As
soldiers, they were like the old Covenanters.
Every morning they assembled round their
head-man for prayer, during the day no troops
were more daring and trustworthy, and at
night, before they lay down to rest, they
again assembled for united worship. In truth,
they were soldiers whom any general would be
glad to command, and disciples whom any
religious body would be proud to claim.

Colonel Durnford had asked Colonel Pulleine
to let him have two companies of the 24th, but
when it was represented that they could ill be
spared, the request was not pressed.

As has been said, the full amount of the

i^2

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

impending danger was not realised, and there
was no expectation of an attack on that day. As
a precautionar}- measure, however, a company of
the 24th, under Lieutenant Cavaye, was sent out
as a picquet about 1,200 yards north of the camp,
while the remainder of the troops were dis-
missed from parade, but to remain in readiness
to fall in at a moment's notice.

The two troops which had been sent out under
Shepstone and Barton had proceeded about five
miles from the camp, when they met a large
Zulu force on the march. Captain Shepstone at
once ordered a retreat, and himself rode in with
the warning that an attack was probably immi-
nent, but the appearance of masses of the enemy
surging over the hills had already given the
alarm. Meantime, Colonel Durnford had, with
two troops, moved to the front at a canter,
followed by the rocket batter)' at a slower pace.
After he had proceeded some miles, his advanced
files reported an immense " impi " behind the
hills, and almost immediately the Zulus appeared
in force on his front and left in loose order^ ten
or twelve deep, with heavy masses in support.
They opened fire and advanced with the startling
rapidity which marked all their movements.
Colonel Durnford retired a little way behind the
shelter of a " donga," a ravine-like crack in the
plain. There he extended his men and com-
menced a steady fire, but the numbers against
him were so overwhelming that he had to con-
tinue his retreat, only to find that the enemy
had been beforehand, and had annihilated the
rocket battery, slaying its commander, Major
Russell, Avith all his gunners. Deserted by the
escort of the native contingent, the battery had
fought with unflinching courage, but had been
overwhelmed by the fierce charge. Durnford,
sorely pressed, disputed every inch of ground
until he reached another donga, where he found
himself in line with the camp troops, and was
reinforced by thirty or forty Natal Volunteers,
under Captain Bradstreet. Here his last desperate
stand was made.

Two companies of the 24th, under Captains
Mostyn and Younghusband, had been pushed
fonvard to the support of Cavaye's picquet, but
they were too weak for the gigantic task, and all
were driven in upon the main body.

The situation was now this : The usual Zulu
attack in half-circle was being made on the
camp, while a whole Zulu regiment, the Undi,
was pushing round the English left to gain pos-
session of the waggon road and line of retreat
upon Rorke's Drift.

The two guns and the whole of the 24th were
in line, the native contingent was on the right
of the 24th, and then came Durnford's shattered
and weary band. All were doing their duty
manfully and well. The guns were in action,
served coolly and steadily as on a home parade.
The 24th, one of the smartest battalions in the
service, was dealing withering volleys, and
Basutos and Volunteers fought stubbornly for
the homesteads of Natal. The enem}- fell in hun-
dreds, but kept on advancing with undiminished
resolution. Rank after rank of the foremost
were swept away, but still others pressed for-
ward. The air was rent with the roar of battle.
The guns, which had been firing shell, now at
such close quarters were pouring in case, and
each shot of the infantry told on the dense
masses. Even Zulu courage could not maintain
an advance against the deadly hail, and Cete-
wayo's chosen warriors wavered and lay down,
seeking shelter and covering the valley in
detached groups to the depth of three-quarters
of a mile. It almost seemed for a space as if
English tenacity was once again, as in the past,
to be rewarded with victory.

But the dire crisis of the day was at hand.
The widespread horns of the Zulu army had
worked their way round the flanks, and were
even now showing themselves in rear of the
English position. The native contingent had
always been a broken reed upon which to lean,
and it now broke and fled in the utmost dis-
order, thus laving open the right and rear of the
24th. The ammunition began to fail, and the
Zulu opportunity had come. Nor were their
chiefs slow to note and profit by it. Hitherto
the attack had been made in the silence of
perfect discipline. Now, as the iron-hearted
warriors recovered from their momentar}- check
they raised the ominous Zulu war-shout, and
dashed forward in a last irresistible charge.
They poured through the fatal gap in the line
of defence, and in a moment the English soldiers
Avere lost in the midst of the seething savage
crowd.

So sudden was the catastrophe, so rapid the
charge, that but few of the English soldiers
had time to fix their bayonets and prepare for
the hand-to-hand struggle. Many a brave
heart among the defenders was cold in death
long ere this, and sadly reduced were the
numbers that strove desperately against the
nervous Zulu arms and the assegais thirsting for
blood. The savage warriors closed upon the
doomed men with a shout of " Bulala umlongo ! "

INS AXDHLWAN A

— Kill the white man ! Then followed a scene
of direst confusion. Horse and foot, English
and Zulu, friend and foe, in one writhing slaugh-
tering mass, slowly pushed through the camp
towards the road to Rorke's drift, the road of

153

to save the guns, and the mounted men who
were yet unwounded forced their way, weapons
in hand, through the press. But the right of
the enemy already occupied the waggon road
and barred the outlet. There was no safety

retreat to safety. But of the 24th, few, if any, left
the ground where they had fought so well. The
battalion fell and lay by companies, surrounded
by slain enemies. When the battle-field was
revisited, the remains of officers and men were
all found in the line of their last parade. No
man had flinched, and all had died as they
had lived, shoulder to shoulder. When all was
lost, the artillery had limbered up and striven

"THEY RATSF.D THE OMINOl'S ZULU

WAR-SHOUT, AND DASHED FORWARD"

(/• 152).

except in seeking another passage to the Buffalo
River, and the ground to be traversed was rugged,
boulder-strewn and broken. None but mounted
men had escaped fi-om the precincts of the camp,
and the ground was such that an active Zulu
could cover it even faster than a horse. The guns
were soon hopelessly impeded, and the drivers
were assegaied in their saddles. The long ravine,
which has since been called the " fugitives'
path,'' was a scene of continuous slaughter, and
even when the Buffalo was reached, it ran
swift, deep and fordless, an alternation of boiling

154

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

current and sharp rocks. Not half even of those
who arrived on its bank succeeded in crossing.
Many were drowned, many assegaied, some were
shot, and the unrelenting pursuit continued
even into Natal. The only troops which had
maintained a semblance of cohesion were some
of the Natal Native Horse. These gallant Basutos
assisted many in the flight, which they covered
as well as theycould under Captain Barton, who
rendered essential service by checking the
pursuit on the Natal bank of the Buffalo.

Such a day as that of Insandhlwana could not
pass without the performance of many deeds of
gallantry and devotion, but the actors and spec-
tators in too many cases were left among the
slain, ana their voices are dumb. We know of
the heroic death of Captain George Shepstone,
-who, having disengaged his men, and finding that
Colonel Durnford was still among the foe, said,
*' I must go and see where my chief is," and
turned his horse again into the melee, there to
lay his body with that of his friend and leader.
Private Wassail, of the mounted infantry, gained
the Victoria Cross by plunging a second time
into the torrent of the Buffalo, under a heavy
fire, to save a wounded comrade, who would
otherwise have been lost. Captains Melville and
Coghill, of the 24th, who were both mounted,
saved the Queen's colour of their regiment
after they had fought to the last in its ranks.
They made their way to the river, and Coghill
managed to get to the further side. Melville
lost his horse, and was left struggling in the
swift current. With sublime chivalry Coghill
rode back to his assistance, when his horse also
was shot. Both these brave officers succeeded
in reaching the Natal shore, but, exhausted and
wounded, they could do no more, and were
overtaken and killed, fighting till the fatal
'' bangwan " did its work.

In this terrible disaster there perished twenty-
six imperial officers and 600 non-commissioned
oflficers and men, while the loss of the colonial
forces was not less severe, twenty-four oflBcers
being among the slain. All the waggons and
oxen, two guns, 1,200 rifles, and an immense
quantity of ammunition and commissariat sup-
plies, were also lost.

Of all the regiments in the Queen's army, the
24th has perhaps paid as high a price as any for
the glorious legends inscribed on its colours.
Insandhlwana was the second battle-field in
Avhich a battalion had been practically annihilated.
About thirty 3-ears before, at Chillianwallah,
thirteen officers and the greater part of the non-

commissioned officers and men had laid down their
lives for the honour of England. Then the cheers
of victory had been raised over the dead. The
evening of the second fatal day in the regimental
history closed in gloom and unrelieved sorrow.

We must return to Lord Chelmsford and the
column which he had led forth in the morning
to the support of Major Dartnell. Between six
and seven in the morning the general had joined
the force, which had bivouacked out during
the night, and operations against what was then
supposed to be the main portion of the Zulu
army were at once commenced. The mounted
infantry were despatched to the left front to
press the enemy seen in the distance, while the
general with the main body and the guns, pro-
tected on the right by the police and volunteers,
moved up the valley against the position which
had checked Dartnell on the previous day.
That "kloof" Avas now found deserted, but a
strong force was seen to be established on the
mountain spurs. It was engaged and driven
back with heavy loss. Everywhere the English
troops gained ground ; everywhere the Zulus
retired before them. But it is more than pro-
bable that the retirement was a piece of elaborate
strategy, intended to draw the general farther
and farther away from his camp and thus reduce
the force available for its defence. Whether such
was the case or not, the result was the same, and
at midday the general found himself twelve miles
from Insandhlwana, looking for a spot on which
to form a second camp. Several messengers had
been despatched to him by Colonel Pulleine,
telling of the threatened attack, but by fatal
mischance none of them reached him. Between
twelve and one reports were brought in by
scouts that firing had been heard at Insandhl-
wana, but when, from the top of a hill, careful
examination had been made with a powerful
telescope, nothing unusual could be detected,
and, consequently, no uneasiness Avas felt. The
presence of large bodies of Zulus on the plain
which had been traversed in the morning was
now announced, and Lord Chelmsford resolved
to retrace his steps with the mounted men and
the native contingent, leaving the artillery and
the second battalion of the 24th in bivouac
At four p.m., when he was within six miles of
the camp, a solitary horseman met him, reeling
in his saddle and riding at a foot's pace. It was
Commandant Lonsdale, who, having been taken
ill with fever in the morning, had sought medical
aid. He brought the ghastly news, " The camp
is in possession of the eneni}-." It appeared that

INSANDHLWANA.

^55

when, riding in the half-lethargy of sickness, he
was entering the camp, he was startled by a shot
fired at him. He looked up and saw, sitting in
and around the tents, groups of red-coats. He
then saw a gigantic Zulu stalking out of a
tent with a blood-smeared assegai in his hand.
Looking more carefully, he saw that the wearers
of the red coats were black men, and black men
only. The real state of the case flashed upon his
mind, and he turned and galloped off under a
scattered fire. Providentially he was not hit,
and was able to meet the general and prevent
him from riding with his staff into the trap of
destruction.

Orders were at once sent to the guns and the
24th to join the general, but it was six o'clock
before they came. The force then collected was
in little case for much exertion. They had
covered nearly thirty miles under an African
sun with only the slight supply of food which
■each man carried in his haversack. They knew
that a nearly equal force of their comrades had
been destroyed, and that a victorious army was
between them and support. English soldiers
never lose heart, however, in the hardest straits,
and Lord Chelmsford's men did not fail to
respond gallantly to the call which he made for
renewed effort. The march was resumed, and
at nightfall they were again beneath the " little
hand." There was no sign of life or movement,
but the enemy might be lying hidden ready to
break forth. Two or three rounds of shell were

fired, but they only awoke the slumbering echoes.
Then two companies of the 24th, under Major
Black, ascended to the neck of ground south of
the great hill. The enemy had gone, bearing
with them their bloodstained plunder.

The night had fallen, and the silence of death
was around. There was nothing for it but to
bivouac on the spot. No one who shared that
bivouac will ever forget its horrors. The air
was heavy with the scent of blood, and mangled
corpses of English soldiers and Zulu warriors
lay thickly around. It was well that the
shades of night hid the blood-curdling details.
The infantry lay down grasping their rifles, and
the mounted men held the reins of their horses
during the long, anxious night. Shots were
fired and alarms spread at intervals, but it is
doubtful whether the enemy wished to make
any real attack. If they had, though each man
was prepared to die in his place, the attempt
would in all probability have been successful.

With the earliest light of morning the retreat
to Rorke's Drift was continued unmolested.
Bodies of the enemy were seen on the hills
overhanging the road, but no collisions with
them took place. When the Buffalo River was
reached a first gleam of encouragement and hope
for the future came from the British flag, still
waving over the feeble fortifications which
Lieutenants Chard and Bromhead had so re-
solutely made good against the long assault by
a numerous and determined foe.

LORD CHELMSFORD.

156

GI\"E me iron in the men, and I shall
not mind much" about the iron in
the ships," said the American ad-
miral Farragut, when some of his
officers were discussing the changes that would
be introduced into naval warfare by the new
ironclad navies. And Farragut was right in
holding that, whatever the ships might be made
of, the most important thing was to have
enougli " iron in the men " who worked and
fought them. We are sometimes too apt to
think that the power of rival fleets can be esti-
mated by setting off their weight of guns and
thickness of armour in two parallel columns,
and striking a balance, as if it were an account
in a ledger. But all naval history goes to prove
that, within certain wide limits, the power of
navies depends chiefly upon an element that can
only be tested by the stress of storm and battle
— namely, the courage, the nerve, and the
" grit '' of their officers and men.

No more striking proof of this was ever given
than that which is afforded by the sea-fight of
Lissa, the only battle between ironclads that
has yet taken place in European waters. In
ships, in guns, in armour the Italian fleet was
superior to the Austrian. On paper there could
be no doubt on which side lay the power that
would secure, in event of war, the command oi
the Adriatic. The war came, and its grim
reality showed how fallacious was the comparison
made beforehand. The object of the Italians in
1866 was to drive the Austrians out of Venetia,
by attacking them there while they were
occupied elsewhere b}?- the struggle with Prussia.
The Italian plan of campaign was to march
against the Austrians in northern Italy, and,
after defeating their land army, besiege Venice
by sea and land. The fleet was to crush the
Austrians at sea, in the early days of the war,
so to be ready to co-operate in the operations
against Venice. It all worked out beautifully

on paper. But the plan was never reduced to
practice. War was declared on June 20th, and
four da3's later the Italian field army was defeated
by the Austrians at Custozza.

Nearly a month before war was declared,
Count Persano had been placed in command
of the Italian fleet, and ordered to prepare it
for active operations in the Adriatic, making
Ancona his headquarters. On June 20th, the
day of the declaration of war, eight ships
(including two ironclads) were at Ancona.
Persano with the main body of the fleet, con-
sisting of ten wooden ships and nine ironclads,
was still at the naval arsenal of Taranto.
Admiral Tegethoff, the Austrian commander,
was getting his fleet ready for sea at Fasana
and Pola, at the head of the Adriatic. He had
taken command on the 9th of Ma}-, and ever
since had been hard at work fitting out his ships
and training his crews. The only effective
portion of the fleet was a squadron of seven
ironclads, broadside ships, with thin armour,
and no guns of really heavy calibre. At first,
the Austrian Admiralty suggested that the fleet
should consist only of these ironclads and a few
light steamers to act as scouts and despatch-
vessels. But there were lying in the dockyard
at Pola and in the port of Trieste an old wooden
screw line of battle-ship, the Kaiser^ and six
wooden frigates. Tegethoff asked for these to
be added to his command. " Give me every
ship you have," he said : '' you may depend on
it I will find good use for them.'' He was
given a free hand, and he organised his fleet
in three divisions. The first was composed of
seven ironclads. The second, under his friend
Commodore Petz, consisted of the seven wooden
ships. The third was made up of gunboats,
paddle-steamers, and other light craft. The
crews were rapidly recruited among the fishing
population of the Dalmatian coast, and the
sailors of Trieste and Pola. So new were many

LISSA.

1-7

of them to work on board a man-of-war that
they were not even uniformed when the fleet
sailed, and they still wore at Lissa the clothes
in which they enlisted. But they were brave
and hardy seamen to begin with, and TegethofF
had given them some weeks of training in
which the crews were busy from morning to

one of his steamers out with orders to recon-
noitre the Italian coast from Ancona southwards
as far as Bari. On June 23rd she returned to
the Admiral's headquarters at Fasana, and
reported that there were only a few ships at
Ancona, and no sign yet of the enemy's main
fleet coming up the coast. Tegethoff, on this,

"from this POlNT TEGETHOFF KEPT ON THE BRIDGE " (p. l6o).

night at target practice, the captains of the guns
being taught to lay a whole broadside so as to
converge on a single mark ; and there was also
practice in manoeuvring under steam, in which
great stress was laid on the importance of rapid
turning so as to avoid the enemy's rams, and
use the same weapon successfully against them.
The result was that even the newly-enlisted
men learned confidence in themselves and in the
brave and skilful leader who commanded them.
As soon as war was declared, TegethofF sent

resolved to see if it was possible to make a rapid
attack on Ancona, and on the 26th he put to
sea with thirteen ships, including six of his iron-
clads. He arrived off Ancona next day, and
saw for himself that in the meantime Persano
had collected his entire force in the harbour.
But the Italians showed no signs of coming
out to meet him, and he had no intention of
fighting both their forts and their ironclads
at one and the same time. So he steamed
back to Fasana.

T^l

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

SHORES & PORTS

Persano's orders were " to clear the Adriatic of
the enemy's fleet by destroying it or blockading
it in its harbours.'' But though he had on
his side superior numbers, heavier guns* and
thicker armour, he seemed very reluctant to
begin. The fact is, he had not much confidence
either in his own powers or in his officers and
men. He remained at Ancona till July 8th,
and only put out to sea on that day because he
had received a telegram from the Government
bidding him to look for the Austrian fleet, and
blockade it if it was still at Pola. But even
then all he did was to steam across to the
Dalmatian coast and come back to Ancona on
the 13th, after practising some fleet manoeuvres.
The appearance of his fleet off" the island of

Grossa was tele-
graphed to Te-
gethofi", who,
however, refused
to sail from
Fasana till he
knew clearly
what were the
plans and desti-
nation of the
enemy.

Two days after
the Italian fleet
returned to An-
cona its admiral
received a per-
emptory message from his Government informing
him that, after the great hopes that had been
built upon the fleet, everyone was disappointed
with his inactivity, and that if he did not do
something at once he would be removed from
the command. It was suggested that he should
attempt to capture by a coiip-dc-main the fortified
island of Lissa on the Dalmatian coast, and
several battalions were placed at his disposal to
act as a landing party in case he decided to
adopt this plan.

Persano was thus driven to venture upon what
has always been recognised as one of the most
dangerous of naval operations. He was to
escort a fleet of transports across the Adriatic,

* The heavier armament of most of the Austrian ships
consisted of smooth-bore 48-pounders. New rifled guns
of larger calibre were being made for the Austrian fleet
by Krupp at Essen, but when war became probable the
Prussian Government stopped the delivery of them. On
the other hand, one of the Italian ships carried 300-
pounder Armstrong guns, mounted in a turret, and
some of the other ironclads had 150-pounders in iheir
armament.

and co-operate with the troops embarked in them
in an attack upon a maritime fortress, having all
the time a hostile fleet watching for the oppor-
tunity to fall upon him, while he was engaged
in the siege. True, the Austrian fleet was
supposed to be inferior to that which he com-
manded ; but, if this was so, the sound course for
him was to blockade it in its harbours or crush
it if it tried to come out. The enemy's fleet
ought to have been dealt with before anything'
else was attempted. If he was not strong enough
to do this, he could not hope to reduce Lissa
and keep Tegethoff at bay at the ^ame time.
But the fact is, he was not acting on any sound
principle of naval war. He was merely trying
to " do something " to satisfy public opinion ;
and there was just the chance that he might
reduce Lissa before the Austrians arrived, or
that Tegethoff" might shrink from attacking
him ; or, if there was a battle, he might still
hope that numbers and weight of metal would
give Italy the victory over Austria.

Lissa is an island about thirty miles from the
Dalmatian coast, and one hundred and thirty
from Ancona. As the nearest of the Dalmatian
Islands to Italy, it has always been a naval station
of some importance when a war has been in
progress in the Adriatic ; and in our last war with
France its waters were the scene of a brilliant
frigate action in which our sailors defeated a
much superior French force. In 1866 the chief
harbour of Lissa, that of San Giorgio, and the
neighbouring inlet of Porto Carober were pro-
tected by strong batteries. There were alsO'
batteries on the high rocks at Porto Comisa and
at Manego. The signal station on Monte Hum,,
the highest point in the island (about i ,600 feet
above the sea), commanded in clear weather a
view of both sides of the Adriatic, and the island
was connected by a submarine cable with the
neighbouring island of Lesina and the Dalmatian
coast. The garrison of Lissa consisted of i,8oo>
men, with eighty-eight guns, commanded by-
Colonel Urs de Margina.

On July 17th Persano steamed round the
island, reconnoitred its defences, and decided on
his plans for the attack. Next day Admiral
Vacca, with three of the Italian ironclads and
one Avooden ship, attacked the batteries of Porta
Comisa. The main body of the fleet closed in
upon the harbour batteries of San Giorgio, in
order to keep the garrison there as much
occupied as possible while Admiral Albini, with
another squadron, brought six large screw
steamers crowded with troops into the bay at

LISSA.

159

Porto Manego in order to effect a landing there.
At Porto Comisa, Vacca found he could not
elevate his guns sufficiently to do any serious
damage to the high batteries, and he was driven
off by their shells. At Porto Manego, a heavy
surf on the beach and the fire of the Austrians
from the shore made the landing impossible. At
San Giorgio, Persano silenced the low-lying
batteries at the harbour mouth, blowing up two
of their magazines, but the inner batteries
prevented his ships from entering the port.
During the day one of his steamers had gone
in to the neighbouring island of Lesina and cut
the telegraph cable there. While the Italians
were in possession of the telegraph station at
Lesina, a message from Tegethoff came through.
It was addressed to Colonel de Margina, and
told him to hold out to the last, promising that
the fleet would come to rescue him. Persano
tried to persuade himself that this message was
intended to fall into his hands, and was a piece
of mere " bluff" on the part of his opponent.

On the following day he renewed the attack
on Lissa, but again failed to force his way into
the harbour, while an attempt to land troops
at Porto Carober was repulsed with heavy loss.
On this same day, July 19th, Tegethoff put to
sea with every ship he could muster. His last
order to his captains was to close with the
enemy before Lissa, and once the battle began,
to "Ram everything painted grey." This was
the colour of the Italian ships. He gave his
own hulls a coat of black paint before they
started, in order to make it easier to distinguish
friends from foes in the coming melee.

On the evening of the 19th Persano was
undecided what to do next day. He had been
two days in action, and though his ships had
received only slight injuries, his supply both of
coal and ammunition was running short. Yet if
he went back to Ancona without having obtained
a decided success he would be deprived of his
command. So he at last resolved to capture
Lissa by a combined attack by land and sea.
Early next day he signalled to his colleague
Albini to prepare for the landing. It was a fine
morning, with a good deal of white haze on the
sea shutting off the distant view. i\lbini was
getting the soldiers into the boats, and two of
his frigates were standing in towards the creek
of Carober to clear the way for the landing. A
hospital ship had joined the fleet and was taking
its wounded on board. The ironclads had
assembled, and were getting up anchor for the
attack on San Giorgio. It was eight o'clock : the

attack was to begin at nine ; but suddenly out
of the haze to the north-westward appeared the
frigate Esploratore^ which had been scouting in
the offing. She was steaming her fastest, and as
she came nearer, Persano was able to read the
signal she was flying. " Stispict'ous-lookvig ships
are in sights He knew at once that he had to
deal with the Austrian fleet.

Tegethoff's fleet had been steaming all night
in three lines, the ironclads leading, the wooden
ships and gunboats following. The despatch-
boat Stadion was out ahead, and at seven a.m.,
long before Persano knew what was coming, six

Austrian Fleet

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LISSA;

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THE
BATTLE Of

LISSA.

10 a. m.

The Fleets elosin

wrmourc-d Shifs

^EuiECrJMai

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Ancona^ I

of his
ships were
sighted by
the keen
eyes of the
look-out at
the mast-
head of the
leading
Austrian
ship. She
signalled to her consorts, " Six steamers in
sightP Then the haze closed down ahead,
and Tegethoff slackened speed in hopes it
would clear, for in such thick weather he did
not care to venture into the narrow waters
between Lissa and Lesina. He formed for
battle, each of his lines throwing forward its
centre so as to assume the shape of a flattened
wedge. He led the first line in the Ferdinand
Max^ with three ironclads on either beam. The
second line also consisted of seven ships, Petz in
the Kaiser leading, with three frigates on each
side. Thus the squadron moved towards Lissa
under easy steam. The haze was breaking up :
it was a hot summer day, and a little before ten
o'clock the sky was bright, the air clear, and the
sea smooth ; and close ahead the Austrians saw
the forts of Lissa with the imperial flag still
waving over them, and in front of the harbour

I60

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

mouth the mass of wooden ships, transports, and
small craft, interrupted in their preparations for
the landing, and nearer still the Italian ironclads
steaming out in one long line ready for battle.

Persano, regarding his wooden ships as useless,
had decided to take only his ten ironclads with
him, believing that they would be able to deal
Avith the seven which Tegethoff was bringing
against him. He formed his ironclads in three
divisions, each'of three ships, with the turret ship
and ram Affondatore^ then the most powerful

(i'lta/ia^ a large broadside ship, which had till
then been flagship, no longer carried the
Admiral.

When the haze cleared, the Italian fleet was
steaming across the Austrian front. Tegethoff
had already signalled to clear for action. He
now signalled to open fire with the bow guns,
and the distant shots from the leading Austrian
ships were answered by the broadsides of Admiral
Vacca's division, which led that of Italy. But'
the range was fully two miles, and these " long

TRIESTE HARBOUR.

vessel in the Adriatic,* on the starboard side
of the central division. The Affondatorc^ with
her ram and her heavy turret guns (two
300-pounders), was to come to the help of
whichever of the three divisions was in need of
succour. At the last moment he himself went
on board of her — an unfortunate move, which
led to much confusion during the battle, as
his captains were mostly unaware that the Re

* The Affondatore was a new ship built in the Thames
just before the war. A correspondent of the Times who
saw her at Cherbourg, where she called on her way down
Channel, wrote that she looked sufficiently formidable to
destroy the whole Austrian ironclad fleet singlehanded.

bowls " did no harm. The fleets were wrapped
in drifting clouds of smoke, and geysers of
foam shot up here and there from the blue
water in the space between. " Full steam
ahead," signalled Tegethoff. The fleets were
closing, the Italians still keeping their broadsides
to the advancing foe. The fire was closer, and
now spars and ropes were cut away, boats and
wooden fittings were knocked to splinters, and
signalmen and others who had not yet got under
cover were wounded or killed by bursting shells.
" Ironclads roill ram and sink the enemy^^' sig-
nalled Tegethoff, the last order he gave till the
battle was won. From this point he kept on

LISSA.

i6i

the bridge of the Ferdinand Max, regardless of
personal danger, and led his fleet by showing
his consorts what a well-handled battle-ship
could do. Two of his captains, Molb of the
ironclad Drachc, and Klint of the Novara, were
killed as the fleets came to close quarters. Molb

suddenly up out of the smoke loomed the tall
masts of the Re d' Italia, which came up to the
rescue of her consort. Tegethoflf, thinking he
was dealing with the Italian flagship, charged
her full speed and struck her fairly amidships.
This time he had succeeded : the ram crushed

rHE RAM CRUSHED IN HER IRON SIDE.

being struck down by the first Italian shot that
fell on board his ship.

The two lines of ironclads closed amid
thick clouds of smoke. The Austrian ships
broke into the .gap between Vacca's three
ironclads and the rest of the Italian fleet, and
Petz, with the wooden ships coming up on their
right, co-operated with them in their attack on
the Italian centre. In a moment all order was
lost, and the battle became a melee. The
Ferdinand Max twice rammed a grey iron-
clad without succeeding in sinking her, when
11

in her iron side, and the tall masts toppled over
as the ironclad went down with her crew of 600
men. The Ferdinand Max had reversed her
screw to clear the wreck, when another Italian
vessel, the name of which could not be made out
by the Austrians, came bearing down upon her
trying to ram. The Austrian flagship just
avoided the collision, and the two ships grazed
past each other almost touching. As she thus
ranged up alongside, the Italian ship fired a
broadside. What followed would be incredible,
only for the clear evidence which supports the

l62

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

Austrian record. So close were the muzzles of
the Italian guns to the side of the Austrian
flagship that the smoke of the broadside poured
in through the open portholes of the Ferdinand
Max and made her gun-deck for the moment
dark as night. But neither the ship nor the
men were injured, for in their hurry and con-
fusion the Italian gunners had fired a broadside
of blank cartridge!

Admiral Ribotti, with the rearward division of
the Italian fleet, as he came into the fight en-
countered onlv the wooden squadron of Com-
modore Petz. Ribotti ought to have sunk them
one by one, but the Austrians evaded his attempts
at ramming, and Petz in the Kaiser boldly
drove the oaken bows of his battle-ship against
the iron sides of his adversaries. He was not
able to do them much damage. He hit the Re
di Pbrtogallo^ Ribotti's own ship, one good blow,
that left its mark on her armour, but in doing
so his own ship was disabled. The bowsprit was
carried away, the foremast fell across the funnel,
and the wreck of mast and spars took fire. The
Kaiser^ her crew working hard at cutting away
the debris and putting out the fire, steamed
through the Italian fleet and stood in to the
harbour of Lissa, exchanging shots with some
of the Italian wooden vessels. Cheered by the
garrison, she passed the harbour mouth and
anchored under the guns of the forts, the first of
the relieving squadron to arrive at San Giorgio.

Meanwhile the mcIec continued. While
Tegethoflf was in the thick of the fight, Persano
made the great ram Afondatore nearly useless
by persisting in keeping on the outskirts of the
conflict. If he had ventured in with her it is
very likely he would have been sunk by the
better-handled Austrian ships. The Palestro,
which had gone into action immediately astern
of the Re d' Italia^ had been almost as severely
handled as her leader. She had been rammed.
Her steering gear and rudder had been knocked
to pieces, and her gun-decks were on fire. She
drew out of the fight, her commander getting
his steam hose to work to drown the magazine.
The Austrian ships were now clearing the Italian
line, and steering for Lissa. The jnelee, which
had lasted for rather more than half-an-hour,
was over. The position of the two fleets was
reversed. The Austrians with their left near
Lissa, were forming up in line across the channel
between that island and Lesina. Everyone of
their ironclads was still m good condition, and
even the disabled Kaiser, which had gone into
the harbour with her foremast burning and her

decks strewed with nearly two hundred killed
and wounded, was again clearing for action. The
Italian wooden ships were assembling off the
western end of the island. To the northward
the ironclads were scattered here and there, on
the waters that had just been the scene of the
fight. As the smoke cleared, Persano signalled
to the nearest ship — " Where is the Re
d^ Italia ? " and got for answer, " Sunk to the
bottom." Close astern of the Affondatorc lay
the Palestro, the black smoke pouring from
hatchway and porthole. Her crew believed that
the magazine had been successfully drowned, and
that they were getting the fire under. As they
recognised Persano on the bridge of the
Ajfondatorc, they gave him a cheer. His own
crew were answering it when there was a burst
of flame and a volume of dense smoke from the
Palestro, and an explosion louder than all the
din of battle went echoing over sea and shore.
It was the death-knell of 400 men, for the
Palestro had blown up with all on board.

Admiral Vacca, thinking that Persano had
gone down with the Re d' Italia, had signalled
to the fleet to re-form in line of battle. The
same signal from the Affondatorc showed him
where his commander was. And the ironclads,
now^ reduced from ten to eight, reformed in line
It was noon on a blazing hot day, and for some
time the two fleets watched each other across the
svmny space of open water that divided them.
Persano had still the advantage of numbers, and
everyone expected that he would signal to renew
the attack. But if he had very little confidence
in his fleet before the battle, he was now re-
duced to a condition of something like despair.
Even the wooden ships of the Austrian squadron
had passed in safety through his line, while
their ironclads had destroyed two of his ships
and more than a thousand of his men. It
must be added that he had now been three
times in action, and his stock of both coals for
his engines and ammunition for his guns must
have run very low. In this state of affairs, he
persuaded himself that he need not actually
attack the Austrians ; all that honour demanded
of him was to give them the opportunity of
renewing the trial of strength if they wished. So
for another hour he remained in line of battle,
just out of long range of his enemy's guns.

But Tegethoff had accomplished the task-
assigned to his fleet. He had relieved Lissa, by
bringing the guns, the men, and the supplies of
his fleet to the help of its brave little garrison
He had done this, too, not by slipping past the

LISSA.

163

Italians in the morning fog, but by fighting his
wa}' through their most powerful squadron,
making them pay dearly for their attempt to
intercept him. Why should he renew the fight
when there was nothing more to be gained for
the moment ?

Persano at last decided that he, too, had done
enough for honour. He signalled to the fleet to
steam away to the north-west, and shortly after
altered his course for Ancona. He anchored
there next day, and added to all his previous
blunders the final folly of sending to his Govern-
ment, and wiring all over Italy, the report that
he had fought a pitched battle with the Austrians,
and won a victory over them in the waters of
Lissa. That night Florence (then the capital)
was illuminated in honour of his '' triumph."
Next day the facts began to be known. It was
impossible to deny that the Austrian fleet was
intact ; that the Italians had lost two ships, and
had been forced to raise the siege of Lissa. It
was in vain that Persano argued that he was the
victor because he had remained in possession of
the waters in which the battle had been fought,
and that he had for a whole hour dared the
Austrians to come on again. There was the
obvious reply that a naval battle is not fought
for the possession of a stretch of open water ;
that Persano had tried to prevent the Austrians
reaching Lissa, that they had gone there in spite
of him ; and that they would have been fools to
come back in order to show twice over that they
were not afraid to fight him. There was a wild
outburst of indignation against the unfortunate
admiral ; there were riots at Florence, and a
royal decree removed him from the command of
the fleet. As if to add to the general collapse
of the Italian navy, the Ajfoudatorc, supposed
to be its most powerful ship, whether through
injuries received at Lissa, or through mere
defects in her structure, sank at her anchors in
the harbour of Ancona.

On the side of Austria, there were rejoicings in
which the name of Tegethoflf was celebrated as
that of an heroic sailor who had given his country
the consolation of a naval victory at a time when
her fortunes on land were at the lowest. He
had won his great victory with comparatively
httle loss. The Kaiser was the only ship that
suffered at all heavily. In some of the ironclads
there were only a few wounded, and every one
of the ships was in a position to continue the
fight when the Italian fleet retired. The battle
was the first that had been fought b}- ironclad

fleets in European waters, and the impression it
made upon naval experts was that the ram
would be the chief weapon of future battles on
the sea. Yet, though we have by no means
clear or full accounts of what happened in the
melee while the two fleets were passing through
each other's lines, it is certain that the number
of attempts to ram made by the Austrians was
out of all proportion to their two successful
attacks. All the attempts of the Italians to ram
ended in failure. It must be remembered that
since Lissa a great change has come over naval
tactics, through the development of the torpedo
and the quick-firing gun, and it is now generally
recognised by naval men that to attempt to ram
an adversary till he is disabled by gunfire or
otherwise is to invite failure and disaster.
Tegethoff regarded the rarri as his chief weapon.
Nowadays it is looked upon as the means ot
giving the coup de grace and completing a
victory that is already half won.

The victor of Lissa was rightly honoured by
his sovereign and his countrj-men, while Admiral
Persano was put on his trial on the charge of
having lost the battle through cowardice and
incompetence. He was acquitted of the charge
of cowardice, but found guilty of having sacrificed
his fleet through his incompetent conduct at
Lissa, and he was deprived of all rank and dis-
missed from the navy. There is no doubt that
although he alone was condemned, he was not
the only oflficer of the Italian fleet who was
responsible for the defeat of Lissa. Throughout
there was a lamentable want of energy, pluck,
and decision. Otherwise the Austrians would
not have achieved their victory with so slight a
loss. Albini's conduct in looking on idly with
his frigates while Petz on the Austrian side was
leading his wooden squadron against Ribotti's
ironclads, is a good instance of this.

Indeed, the Battle of Lissa, considered in its
details, shows that success on the sea, as well
as on land, is primarily a question of brave and
competent leadership. Good oflficers are the
first condition of naval success ; well-trained
and disciplined crews the second ; power-
ful ships are the third. Public opinion is
often so ill informed as to put in the first
place what really stands last ; but none of
these elements of naval power can be safely
neglected by a maritime State, and one which
claims the Empire of the Sea must spare no
effort to possess all three, and to possess tnem
in abundance.

164

IT was noon of the 4th of June, i85q, before
the French general, Trochu, at the head
of his division, could move out in turn
from Novara along the high road leading
to Milan across the river Ticino. The Emperor,
Napoleon III., was commanding in person the
united French and Italian armies. He had
gone on ahead, and was himself preceded by
several divisions of the French troops. It was
known, in a general way, that the Austrian
enemy was not far distant to the south and
eastward beyond the river. An attack was
expected, but it was uncertain where it would
be made.

Suddenl}- the noise of cannon was heard from
the front, several miles away. It went on
steadily increasing.

" What is the meaning of that ? " inquired
Trochu of an officer he met watering his horse
by the roadside.

" At first Ave thought it was a fight," was the
answer ; " but it is only General Leboeuf trying
his cannon."

" Cannon would net thunder like that under
trial," replied Trochu. " Those guns are loaded
with something heavier than powder."

He hastened the march of his troops with not
a little anxiety. Soon another officer, in the
sky-blue uniform which marked the personal
-taff of the Emperor, dashed up.

" Ah, General, what a fearful surprise ! The
Emperor has been attacked by the Austrians
when he least expected them. We are all but
beaten."

" Where is MacMahon ? " asked the General.

" MacMahon had orders to march forward,
no matter what happened, to the church-tower
of Magenta."

'' Then nothing is yet lost. MacMahon is not
a Caesar, but he is stubborn. If he has been

told to march on the tower of Magenta, he wi'l
reach it in spite of all. And then it is we who
shall have outflanked the Austrian army."

Several hours passed before the guns o!
MacMahon made themselves heard. It was late
at night before the Emperor learned what Mac-
Mahon and his men had been doing. Generals
and soldiers, wearied out with the afternoon's
bloody fighting by the river, could not believe
that a great victory had been won in the evening
without them over by Magenta. In the
morning, when they looked for the battle to be
renewed, they found that the enemy was indeed
drawing off, sullen and beaten.

Even afterwards, when each movement of the
hostile troops was known and could be followed
on the map, great authorities in practical
warfare, like the Prussian general, von Moltke.
criticised the winning of the battle. MacMahon
at Magenta is an instance of a battle won
contrar\- to rule.

I. — The Preparations of Battle.
The enmitv between Austrians and Italians
was of old date. It belonged to the great
popular mov-ement ni favour of a common
government for all of the Italian race and
language. Until now the whole of Italy had
been divided up piecemeal among many rulers.
To the north-west Victor Emanuel had his
kingdom of Sardinia, or Piedmont. He reprc
sented the Italian hopes in this war with Austria
which held possession of the rich provinces of
Lombardy and Venice to the east of his
dominions. Toward the south were the petty
duchies of Parma and Modena, the grand-duchy
of Tuscany, the States of the Church, and the
kingdom of Naples, or the Two Sicilies. All
these were at one with Austria in striving to
keep things as they had been so long ; but theii

MACMAHON AT MAGENTA.

165

people were ripe for the revolution which was
bound to come. Magenta was the first decisive
victory won, after an invasion of the Austrian
territory, in the name of United Italy.

The war had been long preparing. In 1849
the Austrians crushed for a time the Italian
uprising by a victory over the Sardinians here
at Novara. For many years nothing could be
done but by way of diplomacy. This was the
work of Cavour, the Minister of King Victor
Emanuel. From 1852 he had been persuading

revolutionary society, reminded him that the
carbonari were relentless in their vengeance on
traitors to their cause. In July, 1858, it was
made known that the Emperor of the French
had entered into close alliance with the King
of Sardinia.

Austria, seeing that war was inevitable, pre-
ferred that it should come sooner rather than
later. On the 19th of April, 1859, she summoned
Sardinia to put her army on a peace footing
within three days. Cavour refused, and on the

"GENERAL LEBCEUF . . DASHED Ur"(/. l66V

the governments of Europe that there was an
Italian question which would soon have to be
settled.

Louis Napoleon, who was now Emperor in
France, had himself been a revolutionist in Italy
when he was only a needy adventurer. That
was in 1831, when he took part in an insurrec-
tion in the Papal States. He then became a
carbonaro^ or member of one of those secret
societies in which the chief obligation was to
forward the cause of Italian unity. For a long
time after he became emperor he shrank from
precipitating the war to which his oath obliged
him. The explosion of a bomb under his
carriage in Paris by Orsini, the son of the
man who had stood sponsor for him in the

29th the Austrian commander Gvulai invaded
the Sardinian territory.

Napoleon III. now announced that the acts
of Austria constituted a declaration of war on
France, the ally of Sardinia. At once he set
about organising his army for the Italian
campaign. On the 4th of May his troops were
entering the valley of the Po, along which lay
the open way to Lombardy. On the loth the
Emperor himself left Paris for the seat of war, to
command the allied armies in person.

The news of Napoleon's coming was enough-
to send Gvulai back from the threatening move-
ment which he had already made on Turin, the
capital of Sardinia. Napoleon had not yet his
artiller}', but the Austrian commander did not

165

BATTLES OF THE xMNETEENTH CENTURY.

know the essential weakness and confusion of
the forces that were coming to meet him.
Until the battle of Magenta, when consistent
and energetic measures were already too late,
the Austrian movements were a strange alterna-
tion of forward marches leading to no decisive
action, and of hasty and fatiguing retreats when
p.o enemv pursued.

General Gvulai's mind in the matter is now
known. He was continually urged from Vienna,
and afterwards from Verona, in Italy, where the
Austrian Emperor had placed himself to direct
the campaign, to push forward with his numer-
ous, well-drilled, and well-equipped troops, and
take the offensive. He himself was beset with
fears that the enemy might pass him by and
take Lombardy unprotected. He was not
reassured when a division of his army in
.he north had succeeded in driving the free
bands of Garibaldi to the very edge of the
neutral Swiss territory. He gradually drew back
to the region where the river Ticino, in its
lower course, separated Lombardy from Sardinia.
There he gave all his attention to concentrating
his forces around the strong defensive positions
which he had already prepared. But aii this
gave time to the French army to perfect its
order and equipment, and to concentrate its
own strength in line with the Sardinian troops.

Such was the general situation of things on
the i3t of June, when Napoleon was directing
the main body of the allied troops along the
great highwav leading to Milan, the capital of
Lombard\", only twenty miles beyond the
Ticino. On that day Gyulai again retreated
with all his forces, leaving the astonished French
Emperor free to enter Novara. Napoleon could
not believe that the Austrians would long delay
their attack. On both sides the service of scouts
was so ill-organised that neither commander
had any clear idea of the other's strength and
position.

On the 2nd of June Napoleon sent forward
two divisions of MacMahon's corps to see what
was awaiting them along the Ticino. General
Camou reached the river, with his light infantry,
at Porto di Turbigo, six miles to the north-
east of Novara. He found no one facing him
from the Austrian s'ide but the single Customs
officer, who was still faithful to the post which
he had occupied in time of peace. From the
yellow and black flagstaff beside him floated
cne double-headed eagle of Austria. Camou
ordered first one, and then a second cannon-
shot to be fired. The functionary disappeared

open-mouthed. General Lebocuf, who was in
command of the artillery, dashed up, pale with
indignation.

" General," he cried to Camou, " what are
you firing at ? It is lucky there is no one in
front of you. Do you wish to bring the enemy
down on us ? "

In this campaign of blunders fortune steadily
favoured the French and Italian armies. Un-
molested bv any sharpshooters that might have
been hidden in the marshy thickets across the
river, the bridge of pontoons was completed,
boat by boat, and at half-past six in the even-
ing a division of the light infantr}- was safely
established on the enemy's ground.

General Espinasse, with his division, had
■gone forward along the high road to Milan as
far as the stone bridge of San Martino. This
was expected to be a strong defensive position of
the Austrians. To his surprise he found that
it too had been abandoned, after an ineffectual
attempt to blow it up. The only two arches
that had been seriously injured were repaired
that same afternoon, and another way lay open
into the enemy's country.

It now seemed evident that the Austrians
would make their stand along the Naviglio
Grande — the broad and deep canal which here
follows the general course of the Ticino, at from
one to three miles' distance toward Milan. The
indecision of the French Emperor was still great.
He could not determine on any general advance
of the allied armies further to the east, fear-
ing always that the invisible enemy might be
turning back to attack him from the south.

At three o'clock in the morning of the 3rd
of June, the light infantry reached a bridge over
the canal. It was untouched, and the Austrians
were not there to defend it. Two companies of
the French troops at once installed themselves
in houses on the bank, and, by mattresses at
the windows and other\\'ise, prepared a defence
against any sudden attack. The remainder of the
battalion crossed the bridge and disposed itself
behind the stone walls of the gardens and the
haystacks which were near at hand. In this
way an enemy would be covered by the fire from-
each bank. MacMahon's entire corps, comprising
the divisions of Generals Espinasse and Lamot-
terouge, besides the light infantry of Camou,
had been ordered to cross the river and rana;
by the bridges which had thus been secured.
While the greater part were still at the
pontoons, MacMahon and Camou, with a large
body of troops, pushed on beyond the canal to

MACMAHON AT MAGENTA.

167

Turbigo, a village farther north. The corps
thus took the position, which it kept through
all the subsequent fighting, of left wing (farthest
to the north and east) of the long, scattered
line of the allied armies.

General Mellinet, with the Grenadiers of the
Imperial Guard, was substituted for Espinasse at
the bridge of San Martino to the south. The
Austrian division of Clam-Gallas, which was
occupying Magenta, faced all these troops ap-
proaching it from the north and west.

The Turcos, whom MacMahon had brought
with his other soldiers from their posts in
Algiers, soon dislodged the few Austrian com-
panies that were on guard at Turbigo. Seeing
the way clear, MacMahon, with Camou and a
small escort, rode forward to the hamlet of
Robecchetto, where the two generals climbed
the church-tower with the hope of ascertaining
the position of the enemy. Instead, they saw a
large number of the Austrian troops charging
down on them. They had barely time to get to
their horses and ride away, with the Austrians
behind them in hot pursuit. The Algerian
sharpshooters came to the rescue, and soon a
serious battle was raging around Turbigo.

At the same time a column of 4,000 men,
preceded by a battalion of Tyrolese sharp-
shooters, was directed against the bridge over
the canal, which the French troops had occupied
in the early morning. The Austrian commander
now foresaw the results of the negligence which
allowed the allied troops to cross both river and
canal above the positions on which he relied for
defence. It was too late. Before the Austrian
attack could dislodge the French infantry, who
answered their fire from each end of the bridge,
MacMahon had gained the day at Turbigo, and
his cannon sounded nearer and nearer. The
enemy, fearing to be cut off from their main
body, hastily retreated. It was seven o'clock in
the evening. The combat of Turbigo, which
vv'as the prelude of the morrow's work, had been
fought and won. Napoleon, who came up
during the fray, gave the name to one of the
broad, new streets he was opening in Paris.

The Emperor returned to Novara for the
night, and made out the necessary orders for a
general movement forward of the allied armies
on the following day. These orders were
changed next morning in several of their details.
As they were based on no precise knowledge of
the enemy's position and movements, they were
again upset by the fighting and surprises of the
mid-day.

II. — The Ride of the Commandant.
At si-K o'clock in the morning of the 4th
of June, Napoleon despatched Commandant
Schmitz of his staff with his final orders.

" Go first to the King. Inform him of my
march forward, and tell him to begin moving
his men, following Camou over the left side oi
the river." This was for Victor Emanuel, who
was in command of 22,000 men, one-half of the
Italian regiments of the allied armies. He was
but a short distance to the west of the pontoon
bridges which had been thrown across the
Ticino at Porto di Turbigo.

" Go on next to the Ticino. I have ordered
two of the bridges to be brought down to San
Martino, to hasten what will be the long crossing
of our own troops." The Emperor referred to
the main portion of his army, made up of the
41,000 men of Canrobert : nd Niel, who were
still back of Novara, and of 40,000 more belong-
ing to the corps of Baraguey d'Hilliers and the
second Italian division. The latter were so
many miles in the rear that they could be of no
use in any battle to be fought that day.

" Then find MacMahon, who must be already
beyond Turbigo. Ask him what he counts on
doing if he has the enemy in his front. Inform
him of the march and position of the Guard,
which he has at his right.'' This was General
Mellinet's division, which had been detached
from Camou and was ahead}' across the river at
San Martino. With the remainder of the Guard
under Camou, and the entire divisions of Espin-
asse and Lamotterouge, this brought to 32,000
the number of men sharing in MacMahon's
offensive movement on ]\Iagenta.

" I shall be at Trecate " (halfway from Novara
to the bridge of San Martino), continued the
Emperor " at noon precisely. Make the entire
round, and be exact in reporting to me at that
hour."

The line of march thus formed left MacMahon
in command of the left wing of the army. This
was already in great part across both river and
canal, and was to be followed closely by King
Victor Emanuel with his Italian regiments as a
reserve. The Emperor was commanding in
person the centre and right — that is, the long
line of troops which was to advance, division
after division, along the high road of Milan. He
had to expect a sharp fight in forcing the strong
defensive positions held by the enemy where
the road crosses the canal, before reaching
Magenta. The movement of MacMahon's corps
on Magenta from the other side was designed

i68

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

by him to divide the Austrian forces during this
attack.

In the absence of all precise information,
Napoleon still believed that the bulk of the
Austrian army was disposed in a long line
parallel to his own, and several miles to the
south. To avoid a possible general attack all
along the line, iie had arranged the march of
his troops io that division trod on the heels of
division from far be3'ond Novara. He hoped, by
forcing b^ck the right wing of the Austrian
army, which alone he supposed to be defending

divisions of Novara could have marched up to
their aid. Around Magenta the troops of Clam-
Gallas faced MacMahon to the north, and the
high road from San Martino to the west. There
was a strong body of cavalry at Corbetta close at
hand. The divisions of Liechtenstein were at
Ponte Vecchio (the Old Bridge) and Robecco,
along the canal below where the road crosses
it. These, which formed the right and centre of
the line of the Austrian army as it was actually
engaged in battle, numbered 36,000 men. The
left was in the immediate neighbourhood, with

lAV A BODY COVERED WITH A BLUE CLOAK " (/. I70).

the approaches to Magenta, to be able to pass
by the main body of the enemy and march
on Milan. At least, this is the only way of
explaining the Emperor's orders for this 4th day
of June. As a line of battle his forward move-
ment was preposterous, straddling a river and
canal, which were not easy of passage, and
without any defensive positions to support him
in case a concentrated attack should be made in
the meantime.

General Gyulai did not know the advantages
of his position. The line of battle which he
opposed to the French advance admitted of a
quick concentration of his troops which might,
by the mere force of numbers, have crushed the
corps of MacMahon and the Guard before the

Zobel not two miles to the south and the
rest just beyond at Abbiategrosso, 28,000 in
all. At Vigevano across the Ticino there
were 24,000 more, quite as near as the central
divisions of the French. The remaining 25,000
men of the Austrian army, like the extreme
rear of the allies, were too far away to b.^
counted on for this day's work.

As it was, between ignorance and indecision,
the battle was to be fought with about equal
forces on either side. It was to be an instance
of an adage often in the mouths of military
nien — ^" Victory belongs to him who makes the
fewest blunders."

Commandant Schmitz galloped off on his long
morning ride. He warned the King to hasten

"IN THEIR FRENZV HIS ZOUAVES BROKE THROUGH THE DEFENCES ' (A 172).

170

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

the movement of his troops, which would be
needed as a reserve in case MacAlahon should
be attacked. Only one of the pontoon bridges
would be left him for the tedious crossing over
the Ticino. Beyond the river he found the
division of Camuu already on the way to follow
the main column led by MacMahon. It was
half-past ten o'clock before he came up with
MacMahon himself, riding at the head of the
division of Lamotterouge.

" The Emperor asks what you reckon on
doing if vou meet the enemy."

" I have no
news yet, and
there is no at-
tack along the
front. On ac-
count of the
narrow road I
have only the
division of La-
motterouge with
me. I have sent
Espinasse b}- a
roundabout way
at a half-hour's
march from my
left. He is
keeping up with
me. Camou is
behind. Tell the
Emperor that I
count on being
at Magenta at
two o'clock."

The Co m-
mandant rode back, after warning MacMahon
that the King had not yet begun crossing
the river with the troops which ought to be
his final reserve for the dav. He reached
Trecate at noon, just as the Emperor was
alighting from his^ carriage. All along the
way he had heard the noise of cannon from
beyond San Martino. Napoleon received
his report, mounted his horse, and rode off
hastily with his escort in the direction of the
firing.

It was the portion of the Guard which was
under General Mellinet that had been violently
engaged beyond the bridge at the village of
Buffalora by the canal. Napoleon sent back at
once to hurry on the corps of Niel, which was
marching forward along the road from Novara.
The disposition which had been made of the
troops rendered this no easy task, and Mellinet

was obliged to hold his own as best he might for
three hours longer.

At half-past four the Emperor, more and more
disquieted at hearing nothing from MacMahon,
sent Commandant Schmitz once more by the
weary round of the morning to get news of him.
There was no nearer way by which he might
escape the enemy's fire in crossing the canal.
At six o'clock the Commandant reached the
pontoons, which the Italian regiments had not
yet finished crossing. \'ictor Emanuel asked
if it was Canrobert who was attacked.

" No, sire : it
is the whole
army. Have you
nothing from
MacMahon ? "

"Yes; a word
in pencil, signed
by his aide-de-
camp ; but it is
not pressing."

Commandant
Schmitz could
only conjure the
King not to lose
a moment of
time, and asked
for an officer to
keep him com-
pan}' in his own
search. As they
rode off, the.
Piedmontese in-
fantr}' was strag-
gling over the
pontoons. Some of the men were stopping to
heat their soup in the islands of the river, and
all, when a new burst of artillery was heard
from the distance, gave vent to their patriotic
cry — " TYva V Italia ! "

It was eight o'clock and night was falling
when Commandant Schmitz reached the line of
railway from Milan, just beyond Magenta. On
the track before him lay a body covered with a
blue cloak and guarded by a staff-officer in tears.
It was General Espinasse, who had been shot
dead as he entered Magenta. At the other end
of the town a sharp fusilade was still going on.
In the confusion, it was some time before
MacMahon could be found ; and it was half-past
eleven at night before the Commandant arrived
with his news at Napoleon's quarters by the
river. The Emperor was lying, dressed, on the
bed in an attic room of the little inn. He arose,

MACMAHON AT MAGENTA.

171

and by the light of a candle dictated the
telegraphic despatch to the Empress Eugenie
which set all Paris rejoicing next day.
" A great battle — a great victory ! "

III. — The Fight at Magenta.

From the beginning, the task assigned to the
troops of MacMahon was long, difficult, and
dangerous. After crossing both river and canal,
they had to march down toward Magenta in a
line trending always to the right. They would
thus be ready to aid in the attack which the
divisions under the command of the Emperor
were bound to make on the enemy's positions
along the canal.

Shortly after Commandant Schmitz left him
in the morning, MacMahon came suddenly on
the enemy in front of Buffalora. This small
village, situated on both sides of the canal, was
one of the strongest Austrian positions, and the
first serious obstacle which Napoleon would
encounter in his own movement forward from
the other side. MacMahon at once ordered the
attack. It was made, with their wonted violence,
bv the Turcos and the foot-soldiers of the 4qth
Regiment of the line. The}' were in the thick
of the fray when a strong column of the enemy
was discovered moving up to attack the divisions
of MacMahon from the right. So far as he
could discern, he would have to face the main
body of the Austrian army. The smoke of
battle already clouded the air, heav}- from the
damp ricefields by the river, and it would be no
light task to bring his various divisions into line
from their march across countr}-. The enemy's
advance already threatened to separate him
from the troops led bv Espinasse, and from
Camou, who was not 3'et in sight.

Before him, where the combat was actually
engaged, disorder had already begun. The
shells, on which the Austrians chiefly relied in
this campaign, were Avhizzing through the air
and leaving clouds of smoke and dust that added
to the difficulty of his movements. One regi-
ment, which had been ordered to fall back,
found itself marching straight on the enemy ;
and another, wishing to rush forward to the
attack which had been begun, turned back in
the opposite direction.

MacMahon now gave orders that the Turcos
and foot-soldiers should give over the attack on
Buffalora and rally to his main column. This
was a' work of time. It was necessary to tear
the men from a mortal combat which they were
sharing with the Grenadiers of the Guard.

These, at the head of Mellinet's division, had
come up from the other side and were already
taking their position in the village. MacMahon
next ordered Espinasse to move his men
steadily to the right until he should be able to
act in concert with the division led by himself.
He then suspended his own movements until
he could enter into communication with Camou,
who was approaching but slowly from behind.

In these first movements of the day. General
MacMahon has been reproached for his sudden
attack on Buffalora ; but this seems to have
been in harmony with the essential plan of
the Emperor, who had little idea of the real
strength of the Austrian troops concentrated
round Magenta.

He is next blamed for withdrawing his men
from the attack when the Guard was in most
danger ; but it was the business of the Emperor
to protect his own line of attack. MacMahon
had been made responsible for the important
attack on Magenta itself ; and the advance of
the enemy on his right threatened to render
this impossible. Besides, the Grenadiers of
Colonel d'Alton-Shee had already secured pos-
session of Buffalora, which they had now only
to defend.

Most of all, MacMahon is criticised for the
long pause which now ensued in his operations,
while the enemy was attacking in force close at
hand. This was contrary to the tradition of
the French army, praised by Moltke, that haste
should be made where the cannon sounds. It
can only be answered that MacMahon had been
positively ordered to macch forward to the
church-tower of Magenta ; that he was not
responsible for the slowness of Camou which
retarded his own movements ; and that the
victory which he won when he did move on
the enemy shows who it was made the fewest
blunders on that day.

In directing the movements of his thirteen
battalions. General Camou, whose experience
of war went back to the First Napoleon, had
been following all the rules. At the sound of
the cannonading in front, he marched straight
across the fields toward the church-tower of
Magenta, on which he knew MacMahon was
advancing before him. The fields were separ-
ated from each other by dense thorn-hedges,
and divided into small patches of maize. These,
in turn, were separated by rows of mulberry
trees bound together by wires, along which
grape-vines were trained. A.t each moment the
Sappers were called on to use their axes, and the

172

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

other soldiers their sword-bayonets. This
needed no great time ; but, at every open
space, the command of the tactician Camou
was heard, stopping all movement in order to
straighten properly the line of his advance.

HE DICTATED THE TELEGRAPHIC DESPATCH

At half-past four o'clock MacMahon himself,
with his uniform in disorder and accompanied
only by a few officers of his staff, dashed up to
hurry forward this reserve which was necessary
to his own attack. On the way he had run
into a body of Austrian sharpshooters who
saluted him as one of their own commanders,
not dreaming of the presence of the French
general. Hastening back to give directions to
Espinasse, he again barely escaped being captured
by the Uhlans. Camou had taken six hours for
less than five miles of march.

The drums now beat the charge, and a
determined attack was made on the enemy's
main column. It was taken between two fires,
from the division of Espinasse on one side, and
from that of Lamotterouge, led by MacMahon
in person, on the other. Steu by step, resisting
desperately to the end, the Austrian troops fell
back on Magenta, where their general and his

staff were watching the fortunes of the battle
from the church-tower.

Espinasse, by order of MacMahon, hastened

his movement on the town from the side of the

railway, to stop the fire of artillery which fell

obliquely on the troops of Lamotterouge.

A compan\- of Tyrolese sharpshooters had

entrenched themselves in one of the first

houses. General Espinasse and his orderly

fell dead under their unerring shots. In

^ their frenzy, his Zouaves broke through

the defences of the house and put to the

bayonet each man of the three hundred

Tyrolese. The bloody fight was continued

around the railway station and through

the narrow streets of the town. It left

everywhere dead bodies clothed with the

hostile uniforms, the red breeches

of the French mingling with the

white jackets of the Austrians.

On his side, MacMahon charged
again and again, but the resistance
was still obstinate around the
church. At last, from the tower,
the Austrian commander caught
sight of the four regiments of
Camou advancing in that regular
order which became old soldiers
of the Guard. They were im-
patient to share in the fra}-, but
the Austrian general abandoned
the place before them. Not one
of their number had burned a
cartridge or received a scratch.
Their coming two hours earlier
would have saved no end of good French blood.
The Italian reserve, under King Victor Emanuel
in whose cause the war was waging, did not
appear all this day.

With nightfall, the soldiers of MacMahon —
those who had fought and those who had only
marched bravely — bivouacked as best they could
outside the town. The doctors began their
all night's work among the wounded in the
church.

General Trochu had brought his battalions
forward at quick step along the road from
Novara. At the bridge over the Ticino he
found the Emperor quite alone, listening in-
tently to the sounds of the battle. The officers
of his escort had been despatched in every
direction for information to relieve his uncer-
taint}'. Trochu asked for directions. Napoleon,
white and trembling, could not answer. At

MACMAHON AT MAGENTA.

173

last, in a scarcely intelligible whisper, he said,
pointing to the bridge — •

" Pass ! "

From General Regnauld de Saint-Jean
d'Angety, who was in command on the other
side, Trochu learned that the enemy still held
out at the Old Bridge (Ponte Vecchio) over the
canal, in spite of Canrobert's impetuous onsets.
He ordered his men to move forward, rifle on
shoulder and all the drums beating and trumpets
sounding. The Austrians, believing in the
arrival of a large body of fresh troops, abandoned
their last positions. At four o'clock in the
morning Trochu followed them to the south
with his artillery, and their defeat became a
rout. When Napoleon, on this day (the 5th of
June), sent 50,000 men against what he still
supposed to be the main body of the enemy,
not an Austrian was to be found.

After a day for rest, on the 6th, MacMahon,
with his corps, was off to check the advanc^;

from the north of General Urban, who was
hurrying back from his chase of Garibaldi.
Napoleon stood at the bridge of San Martino to
see the troops pass by. Calling MacMahon to
alight from his horse, he said :

" I thank 3-ou for what you have done. I
name you Marshal of France and Duke of
Magenta."

At the request of the generals who could not
j-et understand how the battle had been won
without them, the dignity of Marshal was, also
bestowed on the modest and valiant commander-
in-chief of the Imperial Guard, General Regnauld
de Saint-Jean d'Angelv. It was the heroic re-
sistance of General Mellinet and his Grenadiers
of the Guard, left unaided for hours at Buffalora.
that allowed to Camou all the time he required
for bringing up his men according to military
rules. It also gave MacMahon the shorter time
needed to march forward and to reach the
church-tower of Masfcnta.

THE DOCTORS BLGAN THEIR ALL NIGHT's WORK " (/>. I72).

174

IT is now more than forty years since we
entered upon our last great European
war, when, aUied with the French and
the Turks, we were opposed to Russia.
The early part of 1854 was spent in complete
inaction at Varna, on the Black Sea. Cholera
made terrible havoc in our camp, and the men
were growing disheartened, while everybod}- at
home was dissatisfied. The great strength of
the Russians lay about Sebastopol, a nearly im-
pregnable fortress on the opposite shore ; and
it was at length decided to invade the Crimea
and attack Sebastopol. A magnificent armada
was prepared, and the allied armies were Carried
across in a vast flotilla of steam and sailing
transports, escorted by a proud array of battle
ships. All who saw it, declare that it was one
of the most imposing spectacles in modern war.

A powerful Russian fleet lay in the harbour of
Sebastopol, but it made no attempt at resistance,
although it might have done much mischief ;
and the allied armies were all safely landed on
the 19th September, at a place called Old Fort,
in the Crimea.

The Russians did not oppose us at first. Prince
Mentschikoff", who was in supreme command
throughout the Crimea, preferred to wait. Al-
though he knew all our movements, and might
easily have interfered with the disembarkation,
he thought he could do us more mischief when
he had us well on shore. He had chosen a fine
position for his army — that, in fact, on which
the battle of the Alma was fought two days
later, and he thought it impregnable. He was
a self-sufficient, headstrong man ; a poor soldier,
and very presumptuous, as we shall see.

He believed that the allies would soon waste
themselves fruitlessly ; that he might easily hold
them at bay, perhaps for weeks. Then, when
they were weakened by losses, and disheartened
by failure, he meant to strike back, confidently

hoping to drive them into the sea. Not a man,
he declared, should regain the ships.

Pride often goes before a fall, and the result
of the first battle was verv diff"erent from what
Mentschikofi" expected. He was wrong all
round : wrong in his estimate of the fighting
qualities of the troops opposed to him, especially
of the British ; wrong in his belief in the great
strength of his position ; altogether wrong in
his dispositions for defence.

It was very extensive, this position : from the
sea, its westernmost limit, to the eastern slopes
of the Kourgane Hill was some five and a half
miles ; the whole front was covered by the river
Alma — a river in places deep and rapid, at others
fordable, and there was a good timber bridge at
Bourliouk, in the centre of the position, which
carried the great causeway or post road from
Eupatoria to Sebastopol. The western cliffs,
nearest the sea, were steep, and supposed to
be inaccessible ; but the hills fell away as they
trended further inland, and the approach from
the river became practicable, although still
off"ering a rather stiff" climb. The ground about
the centre and right rose high at two particular
points : one was called the Telegraph Height,
and it dominated the principal road ; the other
was the famous Kourgane Hill, an elevated peak
around which the battle ebbed and flowed, and
which is now acknowledged to have been the
key to the position.

Mentschikoff" was but scantily supplied with
troops to occupy so long a line as this. But he
was not very greatly concerned about it. Ac-
cording to his view— and he arrived at the con-
clusion a little too readily, as he soon found to
his cost— the west cliff", that part of the position
nearest the sea, could defend itself, he felt sure.
They were untenable, too, as he told himself,
for the whole surface of this plateau was within
range of the allied fleets, and the fire of their

THE BATTLE OF THE ALMA.

175

guns would soon have swept it of the Russian
troops. These reasons sufficed to justify him in
holding his chief strength, about 36,000 infantry,
between the two hills just mentioned, the Tele-
graph and the Kourgane, a front limited to less
than three miles. His cavalry, in which he was
especially strong, having about 3,600 sabres in
all, guarded his right flank when the more open
down-land was favourable to their movement.
His ninety-six guns were distributed over the
whole ground : some commanded the causeway,
some were with the cavalry, some with the
great reserves, some in the two redoubts.

These dispositions showed both carelessness
and want of skill. The Prince had not satisfied
himself of the impregnability of the west cliff.
Had he visited and inspected it, he would have
found that a good waggon track ascended the
hill from the village of Almatamack, which could
be used, and was, for artillery. Yet he could
easily; have broken up this road ; just as easily as
he could have thrown up formidable entrench-
ments to make assurance doubl}- sure, and forbid
absolutely all attempt to attack on this side.
This neglect to fortify rll along the front,
although the ground lent itself admirably to
such defensive works, was no less blamable.
Whether or not the position was everywhere
naturally strong, it might soon have been made
so. If the heights of the Alma had been
converted into a properly and scientifically
entrenched camp, the allies would hardly,
perhaps never, have captured them.

All Mentschikoff did was to construct two
works, one named by our men the " Greater,"
the other the " Lesser " Redoubt. The first
was nothing more than a breastwork — breast
high, that is to say, without a ditch, and some
three hundred 3^ards above the Alma, just on the
lower slopes of the Kourgane Hill. The Prince
was very proud of this fortification, which had
two short sides for flanking fire, and was armed
with twelve heavy guns. More to the right, on
the same hill, was another slight entrenchment
facing north-east, and armed with field artillery.
This was the Lesser Redoubt.

The allied forces marching on Sebastopol,
arrived in front of this position on the 20th
September, 1854. It was a momentous occasion.
For the first time in modern history the French
and English, two hereditary foes, were about to
fight side by side. A newer and a better rivalry
had effaced old feuds. The fierce contests in
Spain and at Waterloo were forgotten, although
the English corhmander and many of his

generals had won their laurels against the
French. Now the two old enemies were the
fastest of friends. Lord Raglan, who, as Fitz-
roy Somerset, had lost his arm at Waterloo,
was revered by all ranks in the French army ;
and when Marshal St. Arnaud, the French
commander-in-chief, passed along the British
line, he was received with loud cheers, to
which he replied, lifting his hat, and speaking
in good English, '' Hurrah for old England ! "

Emulation in great deeds is a fine thing, but
when allies fight side by side there is always the
fear of divided counsels, the chance of divided
action in the field. The English and French
generals did not exactly disagree, but each went
very much his own way. St. Arnaud wished to
take the front at-
tack from the sea
to beyond the
causeway, leaving
Lord Raglan to
turn the Russian
right. This the
English general did
not choose to do ;
he thought a flank-
ing movement
would be dangerous
in the presence of
a superior cavalry,
over ground espe-
cially suited to it —
like a racecourse,

in fact, open, and covered with smooth, spring}'
turf. It ended in an agreement that each army
should go up against what was before it, the
French attacking the west cliff, from the cause-
way to the sea, the English taking the hills
from the causeway to the extreme right.

The result of this was that the French found
no enemy, and the brunt of the battle fell upon
us. The honour was all the greater, of course.
But this arrangement neutralised all our
advantages of superior numbers. French and
English together numbered some 63,000, as
against 30,000 Russians. As, however. Mentschi-
koff" held the bulk of his forces about his centre
and right — in other words, just opposite the
English attack — it followed that Russians and
English would fight upon pretty equal terms.
This was all the more emphasised by the French
moving so much to their right that a large
portion of their army was quite out of the
action, while the rest was only partially engaged.

The allied troops were astir at daylight on the

PRINCE MENTSCHIKOFF.

J76

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

20th September, but the battle was not really
fought till the afternoon. Delays that were
vexatious yet inevitable interposed. Lord
Raglan was obliged to draw towards him
two of his divisions, with which he had been
covering his exposed left flank, and at the same
,time he gave a safer direction for his baggage
train. The slow transfer of the latter from the
left to his own immediate rear occupied the
whole forenoon, and the French, who had no
such troubles, chafed greatly at the delay.

But at length Bosquet began the ball at
2 p.m. He led off with his, the extreme right
or seaward French division, and went up against
the west cliff. One brigade, Bonat's, followed
by the Turks, crossed the river Alma at its
mouth, and scaling the heights without difficulty,
advanced — to do no more. His 15,000 men
iTiet no enemy, and were put out of action for
the rest of the day. Bosquet's other brigade.

At this moment, it is generally thought, the
allies were within reach of grave disaster. Had
Mentschikoff been a Napoleon or a Wellington,
with the genius to see and the skill to use his
opportunity, he might now have dealt a crushing
blow at the allies. He was in between his foes :
one army was caught amongst a difficult country,
and separated in two parts by a wide interval ;
the other army, not yet engaged. Had he sent
his cavalry to hold the English in check, just as
the German cavalry at Mars la Tour with such
desperate gallantry turned Bazaine back to
Metz, he might have fallen upon Canrobert and
almost eaten him up. The utter defeat of one
French division at this early part of the day
would have probably decided the battle, and in
favour of the Russians.

But such masterly tactics were not to be
expected from such an incapable general. All
Mentschikoff could do when Bosquet scaled the

^^*^f^tr:?^"j:t^

THE HEIGHTS OF ALMA

D'Autemare's, with which he rode in person,
faced the stiff slope and surmounted it. Both
men and guns got up, and were ready to go in
and win ; but, like Bonat, they found nothing
in front of them. Bosquet's successful climb had
only placed him alone in an isolated and really
■unsafe position. He was quite unsupported.
Bonat was detached far away on his right ;
Canrobert, his nearest neighbour, had got mixed
up among the rocky, broken country above him,
and could barely hold his own, much less ex-
tend his hand. Next to Canrobert was Prince
Napoleon ; but the latter hung back unaccount-
ably — unless the stories afterwards published
discrediting his courage are deemed true.

v^'est cliff, was to hurry up eight battalions from
his reserve to confront him ; then, hesitating to
ioin issue, to march them back whence they
came, and thus lose their services for more than
an hour. His cavalry remained inactive till
the golden opportunity was lost, and then he
found himself so fiercely assailed by the hitherto
despised English that he lost the power of the
offensive.

While the French were in this critical con-
dition, the English, who were also jeopardised,
still remained passive, halted, and lying down
under a dropping artillery fire. But now, at
length, Lord Raglan gave the signal for attack ;
and the order was received with soldier-like glee

THE BATTLE OF THE ALMA.

177

by our troops, to whom the long inaction was
very irksome. At last the battle was to be
fought in real earnest, but to understand what
follows we must realise exactly how our forces
were arraj^ed.

1. Sir De Lacy Evans with the 2nd Division
stood next the
French. His right
rested on the
village of Bour-
liouk opposite the
causeway bridge;
his left joined on
to and was rather
jammed in with
the right of —

2. The Light
Division under Sir
George Brown,
who faced the
Kourgane hill,
with its two re-
doubts heavil}^
armed, and a gar-
rison of eighteen
battalions : a very
formidable posi-
tion to storm.
At the same time
his left was what
soldiers call " in
the air " — resting
on nothing, that
is to say, and ex-
posed.

3. Immediately
behind the Light
Division came the Duke of Cambridge with the
1st, composed of the Guards and the Highland
Brigades.

4. The 3rd Division supported the 2nd, but at
a long interval.

5. The cavalry under Lords Cardigan and
Lucan, not a thousand sabres, were held with-
drawn to the left rear.

6. The 4th Division of infantry were a long
way behind, and did not come up till after the
action.

The first fighting fell to Evans, but at the
moment of his advance the enemy set fire to the
village of Bourliouk, which burst up into instan-
taneous flames, and Evans, to avoid it, drew one
brigade — Pennefather's — to the left, and sent the
other — Adams' — by a long detour to his right,
where it was in touch with the French. All

Pennefather's men got across the river, but were
stayed by the fierce fire of the causeway batteries ;
and one of his regiments — the 95th — crushed in
by the right of the Light Division, joined it and
its fortunes for the rest of the day. Evans had
thus only three battalions left, and with so

scanty a force he
could make no
impression : he
could but simply
hold his ground
beyond the river.
Part of the
Light Division,
the right, or Cod-
rington's Brigade,
was soon engaged
in a weightier
battle. The left,
or Buller's, also
moved forward,
but being en-
trusted with the
protection of the
exposed flank of
the whole arm}-,
two of its regi-
ments were held
in hand while the
rest became in-
volved in Cod-
rington's attack ;
for this gallant
soldier was no
sooner across the
iner with his regiments all disorganised, and in
no sort of formation, than he led them immedi-
ately forward.

His superior officer, the divisional general, Sir
George Brown, was not within hail, and Cod-
rington felt that his plain duty was to go ahead.
He himself headed the desperate charge upon the
Great Redoubt, which was now made in quite
inferior numbers, and in the teeth of a mur-
derous fire of big guns. His colonels, especially
Lacy Yea of the 7th Fusiliers, took the cue, and
springing to the front cried to their men :

" Come on — never mind forming ! Come on
anyhow."

" Forward ! forward ! " was the universal cry
of all ; pell-mell, higgledy-piggledy, but always
straight on, the first brigade of the Light
Division rushed up the slope.

The Russians were really in tremendous
strength. There were heavy columns of them all

UlEN YOUNG ANSTRUTHER
RA( ED forward" (/. I78).

178

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

around ; the Redoubt was armed with twelve
big guns, yet they could not resist an onslaught
which seemed only the vanguard of an imposing
attack.

There was another cause, no doubt, for their
weakness, as we shall presently see ; but now
already they were limbering up their guns and
going to the rear. Then young Anstruther, a
mere boy fresh from school, raced forward with
the Queen's colour of the 23rd, and placed it
triumphantly on the crown of the breastworks.
He was shot dead, the colour falling with him.
A sergeant, Luke O'Connor, following close,
succeeded to his mission, and raised the flag
erect.

He, too, was struck down, but would not yield,

and although des-
perately wounded,
carried the colours
for the rest of the
day. This was the
crisis of the fight;
the flag was the
rallying point ;
crowds came rush-
ing in, and the
Redoubt was car-
ried — for a time.
The battle itself
would probably
have been com-
pletely won had re-
inforcements been
at hand. But the ist Division, which had been
ordered to support the Light Division, had not
yet crossed the river. Its advance was hastened
by the Quartermaster-General, General Airey,
speaking for Lord Raglan, who, as we shall see,
was at another part of the field. So the Duke
of Cambridge moved forward, but slowly ; the
Guards Brigade to the right, in line — a well-
dressed two-deep "thin, red line,'' which kept its
formation even when crossing the stream, each
man walking on whatever was before him,
shallow water or deep pool. On the left were
Sir Colin Campbell's three famous Highland
regiments — the 42nd,' 93rd, and 79th — advancing
in an echelon of deployed lines, one behind and
a little further to the left of the one in front
of it. Such a stern arra}' would have more
than sufficed to stiflFen our hold upon the Great
Redoubt ; but it came too late, and other
untoward events had also occurred.

The Russians, of whom there were eighteen
battalions in these parts, could not brook the

MARSHAL ST. ARNAUD.

loss of the Redoubt to what seemed only a
handful of redcoats, and they came forward again
in great strength to recover the work. The
Vladimir regiment, approaching close, was mis-
taken for a French column, and no one fired at
it ; then some misguided English bugler sounded
the " retire '' — by whose orders it was never ascer-
tained — but the call was taken up and repeated,
till at length, most reluctantly, Codrington'smen
in possession of the Redoubt prepared to leave it.
They clung for a time to its reverse slopes, but
presently gave way, and under a murderous fire
retreated down the hill. Only indomitable Lacy
Yea, with his bold regiment, the 7th Fusiliers,
refused to withdraw, and, in line against a
column double his strength, alone maintained
the fight.

All this time the French were not prospering.
Bosquet still clung, isolated, upon the west
cliff ; Canrobert had climbed it, but had made
no forward movement ; Prince Napoleon stood
halted, irresolute, on the safe side of the river.
The Russian general in command of the centre,
which was posted around the Telegraph Height,
now put in motion eight of his battalions, in
dense double column, and crossed the plateau tc
smite Canrobert, who forthwith crumbled back
over the cliff. He had supports at hand — a
brigade (D'Aurelle's) of Forev's Division, which
was on the hilly road jammed in between him
and Prince Napoleon, and the Prince himself
w-as close behind ; but these supports were in
marching columns, with no frontage for attack,
and could not help Canrobert. Had Kiriakoff.
the Russian general, pressed on, he would pro-
bably have completely " rolled up '' the French,
But he paused, and the battle meanwhile passed
into a fres'n phase.

Strange as it may seem, the turning-point in
the action was a hazardous, and, speaking by the
book, a perfectly indefensible step taken by the
English commander-in-chief. Lord Raglan, with
his staff and a few dragoons — not twenty horse-
men in all — had ridden boldly, blindly, into the
very centre of the enemy's line. He had gone
down towards Bourliouk. but avoiding the burn-
ing village, and, anxious to see what was in
progress bevond the river, had dashed into it,
crossed, and galloped up the opposite slope.
He came out at a point under the Telegraph
Height and above the causeway, and thence could
survey at ease — for no enemy, happily, was
near enough to injure him— the whole state of
the batde. Better still, he looked into the
enemy's line of defence, taking it in reverse^ and

THE BATTLE OF THE ALMA.

179

realised at once the supreme advantage his really
dangerous position gave him.

" If only we had a couple of guns up here ! "
he cried, and two artillery officers — Dacres and
Dickson, who rode with his staff — dashed off to
fetch them, while General Airey was sent to
bring up the nearest infantry, Adams' brigade of
Evans' 2nd Division.

The messengers found Turner's battery strug-
gling across the ford, and Turner himself hurried
up two of his guns, which were soon unlimbered
and worked — one, at least — by Colonel Dickson's
own hands.

across the river in support of Codrington's
discomfited brigade. The Russians on the hill
now numbered some 15,000 men, part of them
being the Vladimir column, which had retaken
the Great Redoubt. A very stout resistance was
made. The Scots Fusiliers were met with so
bold a front and such a withering fire that they
fell back in some disorder. It seemed as though
the Grenadier . Guards would also be involved,
but this regiment, under Colonel Hood, stood
firm, and presently advanced in beautiful order
— a well-dressed, steady line, as perfect as
though it was in Hyde Park. To the left of the

Bridge _ J «>»2~ it ^^

The Battle of the ALMA.

Their very first shot was a surprise to the
whole field. It proved to the enemy, whose
guns were posted in advance in the causeway,
that they had been taken in reverse and had
better retire. It overjoyed Evans, who still stood
checked by this causeway battery. " Hark !
that is an English gun," he cried, and prepared
at once to advance, knowing that the barrier in
front would soon be removed. And so it was.
Evans swept forward triumphantly with his
three remaining regiments, their left still covered
by stout Lacy Yea and his splendid Fusiliers, who
just about this time had finally conquered the
Russian column with which they had so long
been engaged. Yea's obstinate heroism had not
only paved the way for the advance of the
2nd Division, but it had made another attack
possible upon the Kourgane' Hill.

The Scots Fusilier Guards had been the first
of the Duke of Cambridge's troops to get

Scots Guards were the Coldstreams, anothei
regiment in magnificent array, which had not
been touched by the fire, and moved up the
hill with admirable precision. The Duke of
Cambridge rode with the Coldstreams.

So fierce was the fight into which the Guards
now entered, ^o strong the opposition, that some
cried in alarm, "The Brigade will be destroyed."
There was a talk of falling back, and then it
was that stout old Sir Colin Campbell made his
famous speech to the Duke : — " Better, sir, that
every man in her Majesty's Guards should lie
dead upon the field than that they should turn
their backs upon the enemy." The Guards
needed no stiffening — they were only too eager
to get on. But Campbell did more than exhort
in words. He had here, close at hand, his three
superb Highland regiments, and he was ready to
use them, to the last man, in support.

The Highlanders were now on the left of the

i8o

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

whole line. Although BuUer's two regiments
on this extremity, the 88th and the 77th, had
held their own during the day, they were now
beginning to fall back. But Campbell took
charge of the flank, and, despising the still
irresolute Russian cavalry, he brought up his

finished — " Now, men, the army will watch us :
make me proud of the Highland Brigade ! "
He was about to engage twelve battalions with
his three ; each regiment as it advanced, the
42nd first, seemed to be outflanked by a
heavy column ; but beyond each flank came the

THE HIGHLANDERS AT THfi ALMA.

deployed regiments in echelon, and prolonging
our line, threw them at the Russian right.
Our front was very extensive, for the line was
only the depth of two men ; but it looked so
threatening, that the Russian general, Gorts-
chakoff", concluding there were heavy masses
behind, thought himself outnumbered and
overpowered.

Sir Colin spoke a few words ot encouragement
to his men. " Be steady — keep silence — fire
lo\y ; " and then, with fierce emphasis, he

next regiment in the echelon behind, and in
this formation the Highlanders carried all before
them. The Russians, after another despairing
and unavailing stand, began to retreat, and the
Guards and Highlanders took possession of the
Kourgane Hill.

All this time Lord Raglan had held his
ground — no longer perilous — above the cause-
wa}- ; but now he was joined b}- Adams' two
regiments, and a red line was seen surmounting
the slope. He left them there, to be used, if needs

'TURNER HIMSELF HURRIED UP TWO OF HIS GUNS" (/. 179).

lH2

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

were, in hastening the retreat of the Russian
columns ; a brigade of the 3rd Division, Eyre's,
had also arrived, and was across the Bourliouk
bridge. NoW^ the French made head against
Kiriakoff, who could not hold out with his com-
rades in full retreat ; and as he fell back Canrobert
came on, and, gaining the heights, took full
possession of the Telegraph Hill. There was
ver}'^ little more fighting to be done, except with
a handful of forgotten riflemen : the Russians
were gone. Following Canrobert, Prince Napo-
leon and D'Aurelle advanced, so that soon two
strong and unbroken French divisions and a
whole brigade occupied the ground.

Then followed the grievous mistake of not
following up the beaten enemy. It was clear
that the English could not do this with effect :
the bulk of our men had been engaged, we had
suffered seveiely, and the survivors were worn

out with their exertions. Our cavalry could do
little against the Russian, which was still quite
fresh, and ready, if not too anxious, to cover
the retreat. Lord Raglan hoped that the
French would now reap the full advantage ot
the victory, and urged St. Arnaud to press on in
pursuit. The only answer was that any further
advance of the French that day was " impossible.'
The men, when moving up to the attack, had
left their knapsacks on the other side of the
river, and they could not go on without them.
So the Russian army, which was now nearly
dissolved, a broken, helpless mass of fugitives,
was suffered to continue its headlong retreat upon
Sebastopol. A little more energy on the part
of the victors would have dealt a crushing blow
and probably annihilated it.

In this first error was sown the seeds of the
long and disastrous siege of Sebastopol.

LORD RAGLAN.
{Front the Painting by Andrew Morton.)

1 83

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N the 2 1 St of November, 1805, a striking
and warlike cavalcade was traversing
at a slow pace a wide and elevated
plateau in Moravia. In front, on a
grey barb, rode a short, sallow-faced man
with dark hair and a quick, eager glance,
whose notice nothing seemed to escape. His
dress was covered by a grey overcoat, which
met a pair of long riding-boots, and on his head
was a low, weather-stained cocked hat. He was
followed by a crowd of officers, evidently of high
rank, for their uniforms, saddle-cloths, and
plumed hats were heavily laced, and they had
the bold, dignified bearing of leaders of men.
In front and in the flanks of the party were
scattered watchful vedettes, and behind fol-
lowed a strong squadron of picked cavalry in
dark green dolmans with furred pelisses slung
over their shoulders, and huge fur caps sur-
mounted by tall red plumes. The leading horse-
man rode in silence over the plateau, first to one
point then to another, examining with anxious
care every feature of the ground. He marked
carefully the little village from which the
expanse took its name, and the steep declivity
which sloped to a muddy stream below. No
one addressed him, for he was a man whose
train of thought was not to be lightly inter-
rupted. Suddenly, at length, he drew rein,
and, turning to the body of officers, said :
"Gentlemen, examine this ground carefully.
It will be a field of battle, upon which you will
all have a part to play." The speaker was
Napoleon. His hearers were his generals and
staff. He had been reconnoitring, surrounded
and guarded by his devoted Chasseurs of the
Guard, the plateau of Pratzen, the main part of
the arena where was to be fought in a few days
the mighty conflict of Austerlitz.

Napoleon's headquarters were then at Brunn.
The French host, then for the first time called
the " Grand Army," had, at the command of its

great chief, in the beginning of September
broken up the camps long occupied on the
coasts of France in preparation for a contem-
plated invasion of England, and had directed its
march to the Rhine. It was formed in seven
corps under. Bernadotte, Marmont, Davoust,
Soult, Lannes, Ney, and Augereau, with its
cavalry under Prince Murat, and the Imperial
Guard as a reserve.

The Rhine was crossed at different points, and
the tide of invasion swept upon the valley of the
Danube. From the beginning the movements
had been made with a swiftness unprecedented
in war. Guns and cavalry had moved in cease-
less and unhalting stream along every road.
Infantry had pressed forward by forced marches,
and had been aided in its onward way by
wheeled transport at every available oppor-
tunity. The Emperor had resolved to strike
a blow by land against his foes which should
counterbalance the several checks which the
indomitable navy of England had inflicted on
his fleets at sea. Austria and Russia were in
arms against France, and he was straining every
nerve to encounter and shatter their separate
forces before they would unite in overwhelming
power. The campaign had opened for him with
a series of brilliant successes. The veterans of
the revolutionary wars, of Ital}- and of Egypt,
directed by his mighty genius, had proved them-
selves irresistible. The Austrians had been the
first to meet the shock, and had been defeated
at every point — Guntzberg, Haslach, Albeck,
Elchingen, Memmingen — and the first phase of
the struggle had closed with the capitulation at
Ulm of General Mack with 30,000 men.

But there had been no stay in the rush of the
victorious French. The first defeats of the
Austrian army had been rapidly followed up.
The corps which had escaped from the disaster
at Ulm were pursued and, one after another^
annihilated. The Tyrol was overrun, and its

1 84

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

strong positions occupied by Marshal Ney.
From Italy came the news of Alassena's
successes against the celebrated Archduke
Charles, and at Dirnstein Marshal Mortier had
defeated the first Russian army under Kutusow.
The Imperial headquarters had been established
at Schonbrunn, the home of the Emperor of
Austria. Vienna had been occupied and the
bridge across the Danube secured by Lannes and
Murat. Kutusow, after his defeat at Dirnstein,
had been driven back through Hollabrunn on

camp at Boulogne was left, that the common
saying passed in the ranks that " Our Emperor
does not make use of our arms in this war so
much as of our legs " ; and the grave result of
this constant swiftness had been that many
soldiers had fallen to the rear from indisposition
or fatigue, and even the nominal strength of
corps was thus for the time seriously diminished.
It is recorded that in the Chasseurs a Cheval
of the Guard alone there was a deficiency of
more than four hundred men from this cause.

'the saying passed, 'our emperor does not make use of our arms in this war so MUCH AS Oi- OUR LEGS

Brunn by the same marshals at the head of the
French advanced guard, and had now joined
the second Russian army, with which was its
Emperor Alexander in person, and an Austrian
force under Prince Lichtenstein, accompanied by
the Emperor of Austria.

The main body of the " Grand Army "' had,
under Napoleon, followed its advanced guard
into the heart of Moravia. Its headquarters
and immediate base were now at Brunn, but its
position was sufficiently critical, at the extremity
of a long line of operations, numbering less
than 70,000 disposable men, while the Russo-
Austrian army in front amounted to 92,000.
So rapid had been the mo\ements since the

But all these laggards were doing their best to
rejoin the army before the great battle took
place which all knew to be inevitable, and in
which all were eager to bear their part.

Napoleon had himself arrived at Brunn on
the 20th of November, and during the following
days till the 27th he allowed his army a measure
of repose to enable it to recover its strength
after its long toils — to repair its arms, its boots
and worn material, and to rally every man under
its eagles. His advanced guard had been pushed
forward under Murat towards Wischau on the
Olmutz road, Soult's corps on his right had
pressed Kutusow's retreat towards Austerlitz,
and the remainder were disposed in various

AUSTERLITZ.

i8;

positions to watch Hungary and Bohemia and to
maintain his hold upon Vienna.

On the 27th the French advanced guard was
attacked and driven back by the Russians at
Wischau, and certain information arrived that
this had been done by a portion of the main
Russian army under the Emperor Alexander.
It had been thought possible by Napoleon that
peaceful nego-
tiations might
be opened, but
this confident
advance of his
enemies seemed
to show that
they had by no
means lost
heart, and when
on the 28th he
had a personal
interview with
Prince Dolgo-
rouki, the fa-
vourite of Alex-
ander, he found
the Russian pro-
posals so insult-
i ng and pre-
sumptuous thai
he broke oft"
abruptly any
further commu-
nication.

We have seen
Napoleon recon-
noitring on the
2 1 St of Novem-
ber, and we have
marked the
marvellous coup
d^oei'l and pre-
science with

which he foresaw the exact spot where the
great battle, then looming before him, must take
place. Every succeeding day saw the recon-
naissances renewed, and never was a battle-field
more thoroughly examined, never was forecast
by a general of the actual turn of events
to be expected more completely justified by
fulfilment.

It had become certain that the united army
of two mighty empires was close at hand. From
the tone of Dolgorouki's communication it was
evident that both the Russian and Austrian
monarchs had resolved to trust their fortunes to

NAPOLEON
{From the Paintini

the ordeal of battle, and that they, with their
generals and soldiery, were eager to retrieve
their previous misfortunes, and full of confidence
that they would do so. That confidence had
been increased by the repulse of the French
advanced guard at Wischau ; and they now
longed to complete their work by pouring their
superior numbers on the comparatively weak

French main
body.

With this
knowledge be-
fore him, Na-
poleon pro-
ceeded to carry
out the plan of
action which he
had carefully
matured. To
the astonish-
ment of many
veterans in his
army, a general
retreat of iiis
advanced trof^ps
was ordered.
Murat fell back
from Posoritz
and Soult from
near Austerlitz.
But this retro-
grade movement
was short, and
they were halted
on the ground
chosen by Na-
poleon for his
battle-line. The
outlying corps
of Bernadotte
and Davoust
were summoned
to complete his array. Munitions, food, ambu-
lances were hurried to their appointed posts, and
it was announced that the battle would be
fought on the ist or 2nd of December.

The line of a muddy stream, called the Gold-
bach, marked the front of the French army.
This stream takes its source across the Olmutz
road, and flowing through a dell, of which the
sides are steep, discharges itself into the .Mcnitz
Lake. At the top of its high left bank stretches
the wide Pratzen plateau, and it appeared to
Napoleon's staff" that he had made an error in
relinquishing such a vantage ground to his

BONAPARTE.

\ by Paul Delaroclie.)

1 86

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

enemy ; but he to!d them that he had done so
of set purpose, saving, '' If I remained master of
this fine plateau, I could here check the Russians,
but then I should only have an ordmary victory ;
whereas by giving it up to them and refusing
my right, if they dare to descend from these
heights in order to outflank me, I secure that
they shall be lost beyond redemption."

Let us examine the positions occupied by the
French and the Austro-Russian armies at the
close of November, and we shall the better
understand the general strateg}' of the two
combatant forces and the tactics which each
made use of when they came into collision. The
Emperor Napoleon rested his left, under Lannes
and Murat, on a rugged eminence, which those
of his soldiers who had served in Egypt called
the " Santon," because its crest was crowned by
a little chapel, of which the roof had a fancied
resemblance to a minaret. This eminence he
had strengthened with field works, armed and
provisioned like a fortress. He had, by repeated
visits, satisfied himself that his orders were
properly carried out, and he had committed its
defence to special defenders under the command
of General Claparede, impressing upon them
that they must be prepared to fire their last
cartridge at their post and, if necessary, there to
die to the last man.

His centre was on the right bank of the
Goldbach. There were the corps of Soult and
Bernadotte, the Grenadiers of Duroc and Oudinot,
and the Imperial Guard with forty guns. Their
doubled lines were concealed by the windings of
the stream, b}- scattered clumps of wood, and by
the features of the ground.

His right was entrusted to Davoust's corps,
summoned in haste to the battle-field, and of
which only a division of infantry- and one of
Dragoons had been able to come into line. They
were posted at Menitz, and held the defiles
passing the Menitz Lake and the two other
lakes of Telnitz and Satschau. Napoleon's line
of battle was thus an oblique one, with its right
thrown back. It had the appearance of being
only defensive, if not actualh' timid, its centre
not more than sufficiently occupied, its right
extremely weak, and only its left formidable and
guaranteed against any but the most powerful
attack. But the great strategist had weighed
well his methods. He trusted that the foe
would be tempted to commit themselves to an
attack on his right, essa3-ing to cut his communi-
caiions and line of retreat on Vienna. If they
could be led into this trap, the difficulty or

movement in the ground cut up by lake,
stream, and marsh would give to Davoust the
power to hold them in check until circumstances
allowed of aid being given to him. Meantime,
with his left impregnable and his centre read}' to
deal a crushing blow, he expected to be able to
operate against the Russo-Austrian flank and
rear with all the advantage due to unlooked-for
strength.

The right of the Russo-Austrians, commanded
b}' the Princes Bagration and Lichtenstein, rested
on a wooded hill near Posoritz across the Olmutz
road. Their centre, under Kollowrath, occupied
the village of Pratzen and the large surrounding
plateau ; while their left, under Doctorof and
Kienmayer, stretched towards the Satschau Lake
and the adjoining marshes.

The village of Austerlitz was some distance
in rear of the Russo-Austrian position, and had
no immediate connection with the movements
of the troops employed on either side, but the
Emperors of Russia and Austria slept in it on
the night before the battle, and Napoleon
afterwards accentuated the greatness of his
victory- by naming it after the place from which
he had chased them.

The two great armies now in presence of each
other were markedly unequal in strength — *
92,000 men were opposed to 70,000, and the
advantage of 22,000 was to the allies. But this
inequality was to a great extent compensated
by the tactical dispositions of the leader of the
weaker force. Of the two antagonist lines, one
was wholly exposed to view, the other to a great
extent concealed — first advantage to the latter.
They formed, as it were, two parallel arcs of a
circle, but that of the French was the more
compact and uninterrupted — second advantage ;
and this last was soon to be increased by the im-
prudent Russian manoeuvres. The two armies,
barely at a distance of two cannon-shot from
each other, had by mutual tacit consent formed
their bivouacs, piled arms, fed and reposed
peaceably round their fires, the one covered by
a thick cloud of Cossacks, the other by a sparse
line of vedettes.

Napoleon quitted Brunn early in the morning
of the 1st December, and employed the whole of
that day in e.xamining the positions which the
different portions of his army occupied. His
headquarters were established in rear of the
centre of his line at a high point, from which
could be seen the bivouacs of both French and
allies, as well as the ground on which the
morrow's issue would be fought out. The cold

AUSTERLITZ.

187

was intense, but there was no snow. The only
shelter that could be found ^br the ruler of
France was a dilapidated hut, in which were
placed the Emperor's table and maps.

The Grenadiers had made up a huge fire
hard by, and his travelling car/Iage was drawn
up, in which he could take such sleep as his
anxieties would permit. The divisions of Duroc
and Oudinot bivouacked between him and the
enemy, while the Guard lay round him and
towards the rear.

In the late afternoon of the same day Napoleon
was watching the allied position through his
telescope. On the Pratzen plateau could be
seen a general flank movement of Russian
columns, in rear of their first line, from their
centre to their left and towards the front of the
French position at Telnitz. It was evidently
supposed by the enemy that the French intended
to act only on the defensive, that nothing was
to be feared from them in front, and that the
allies had only to throw their masses on their
right, cut off their retreat upon Vienna, and
thus inflict upon them a certain and disastrous
defeat. It was forgotten by the Russo-Austrians
that in thus moving their principal forces to the
left, the centre of their position was weakened,
and on the right their own line of operations
and retreat was left entirely unprotected. When
Napoleon detected what was being done, trembling
with satisfaction and clapping his hands, he
said: "What a manoeuvre to be ashamed of!
They are running into the trap ! They are
giving themselves up ! Before to-morrow even-
ing that army will be in my hands! " In order
still more to add to the confidence of his enemy
and to encourage them in the prosecution of
their mistaken plan, he ordered Murat to sally
forth from his own position with some cavalry, to
manoeuvre as if showing uneasiness and hesita-
tion, and then to retire with an air of alarm.
This order given, he returned immediately to
his bivouac, dictated and issued the famous
pioclamation in which he assured his army that
the Austro-Russians were exposing their flank
and were offering certain glor}' to the soldiers of
France as a reward for their valour in the
coming struggle : he said that he himself would
direct their battalions, but that he would not
expose himself to danger unless success was
doubtful, and he promised that, after their
victory, they should have comfortable canton-
ments and peace.

The evening of the ist of December closed
in. The allied movement towards their left was

still continuing, and Napoleon, after renewing
his orders, agam visiting his parks and ambu-
lances and satisfying himself by his own observa-
tion that ah was in order, threw himself on a
bundle ot straw and slept. About eleven o'clock
he was awakened and told that a sharp attack
had been made on one of the villages occupied
by his right, but that it had been repulsed. This
further confirmed his forecast of the allied move-
ments, but, wishing to make a last reconnaissance
of his enem3^'s position, he again mounted, and,
followed by Junot, Duroc, Berthier, and some
others of his stafi^, he ventured between the
two armies. As he closely skirted the enemy's
line of outposts, in spite of several warnings
that he was incurring great risk, he, in the dark-
ness, rode into a picquet of Cossacks. These
sprang to arms and attacked him so suddenly
that he would certainly have been killed or
taken prisoner if it had not been for the devoted
courage of his escort, which engaged the
Cossacks while he turned his horse and galloped
back to the French lines. His escape was so
narrow and precipitate that he had to pass
without choosing his way the .marshy Goldbach
stream. His own horse and those of several of
his attendants — amongst others Ywan, his
surgeon, who never left his person — were for
a time floundering helpless in the deep mud,
and the Emperor was obliged to make his way
on foot to his headquarters past the fires round
which his soldiery were lying. In the obscurity
he stumbled over a fallen tree-trunk ; and it
occurred to a grenadier who saw him, to twist
and use some straw as a torch, holding it over
his head to light the path of his sovereign.

In the middle of the anxious night, full of
disquietude and anticipation, the eve of the
anniversary of the Emperor's coronation, the
face of Napoleon, lighted up and suddenly dis-
played by this flame, appeared almost as a
vision to the soldiers of the nearest bivouacs. A
cry was raised, " It is the anniversary of the
coronation ! Vive I'Empereur ! " — an outburst
of loyal ardour which Napoleon in vain
attempted to check with the words, " Silence
till to-morrow. Now you have only to sharpen
your bayonets." But the same thought, the
same cry, was taken up and flew with lightning
quickness from bivouac to bivouac. All made
torches of whatever material was at hand.
Some pulled down the field-shelters for the
purpose — some used the straw that had been
collected to form their beds ; and in an instant,
as if by enchantment, thousands of lights flared

i88

RATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

upwards along the whole French line, and by
thousands of voices the cry was repeated, " Vive
I'Empereur ! " Thus was improvised, within
sight of the astonished enemy, the most
striking of illuminations, the most memorable of
demonstrations, by which the admiration and
devotion of a whole army have ever been shown
to its general. It is said that the Russians
believed the French to be burning their shelters
as a preliminary to retreat, and that their con-
fidence was thereby increased. As to Napoleon,
though at first annoyed at the outburst, he was
soon gratified and
deeply touched by
the heart-felt en-
thusiasm displayed,
and said that " This
night is the happiest
of m3^ life." For
some time he con-
tinued to move from
bivouac to bivouac,
telling his soldiers
how much he appre-
ciated their affection ,
and saying those
kindly and encour-
aging words which
no one better than
he knew how to
use.

The morning be-
gan to break on the
2nd of December.
As he buckled on
his sword, Napoleon
said to the stafi
gathered round —
" Now, gentlemen,

let us commence a great day." He mounted,
and from different points were seen arriving
to receive his last orders the renowned chiefs
of his various corps-d'anncc^ each followed
by a single aide-de-camp. There were Marshal
Prince Murat, Marshal Lannes, Marshal Soult,
Marshal Bernadotte, and Marshal Davoust.
What a formidable circle of men, each of
whom had already gathered glory on many
different fields I Murat, distinctively the cavalr}-
general of France, the intrepid paladin who had
led his charging squadrons on all the battle-
fields of Italy and Egj-pt ; Lannes, whose
prowess at Montebello had made victorv certain ;
Soult, the veteran of the long years of war on
the Rhine and in Germany, the hero of Alten-

MARSHAL PRINCE MURAT (AFTERWARDS KING OF NAPLES).
{Front the Painting by Gerard.)

kitchen, and Massena's most distinguished
lieutenant at the battle of Ziirich ; Bernadotte,
not more renowned as a general in the field
than as the minister of war who prepared the
conquest of Holland ; Davoust, the stern disci-
plinarian and leader, unequalled for cool
gallantry and determination — all were gathered
at this supreme moment round one of the
greatest masters of war in ancient or modern
times, to receive his inspiration and to part
like thunder-clouds bearing the storm which
was to shatter the united armies of two Empires.

The Emperor's
general plan of ac-
tion was already
partly known, but
he now repeated it
to his marshals in
detail. He was more
than ever certain,
from the last reports
which he had re-
ceived, that the
enemy was continu-
ing the flank move-
ment, and would
hurl the heaviest
attacks on the
French right near
Telnitz.

To Davoust was
entrusted the duty
of holding the ex-
treme right and
checking, in the
defiles formed by the
lakes, the heads of
the enemv's columns
which, since the pre
vious day, had been more and more entangling
themselves in these difificult passes.

Of Soult's three divisions, one was to assist
Davoust on the right, while the other two,
already formed in columns of attack, were to
hold themselves ready to throw their force on
the Pratzen plateau.

Bernadotte's two divisions were to advance
against the same position on Soult's left. This
combined onslaught of four divisions on the
centre of the Russo-Austrians which they had
weakened by the movement to their left, would
be supported by the Emperor himself with the
Imperial Guard and the Grenadiers of Oudinot
and Duroc. Lannes was ordered to hold the
left, particularly the " Santon " height ; while

AUSTERLITZ.

189

Prince Murat, at the head of his horsemen, \vas
to charge through the intervals of the infantry
upon the aUied cavalry which appeared to be in
great strength in that part of the field.

It was thus Napoleon's intention to await
and check the eneiTi>'s attacks which might be
expected on both his flanks, and more especially
on his right, while hs himself made a deter-
mined and formidable forward movement
against their centre, where he hoped to cut

heights, th'e sun rose, brilliantly piercing the
mist and lighting the battle-field — the " Sun of
Austerlitz," of which Napoleon ever after loved
to recall the remembrance.

The moment of action for the French centre
had come, and the corps of Soult and Berna-
dotte, led by the divisions of Vandamme and
St. Hilaire, rushed forwards. No influence that
could animate the minds of these gallant
troops was v>-anting. They fought directly

"thousands of lights flared upwards" {p. 188.)

them in two, and then, from the dominant
position of the Pratzen plateau, turn an over-
whelming force against the masses on their too-
far-advanced left, which, entangled and cramped
in its action among the lakes, would then be
crushed or forced to yield as prisoners.

It was eight o'clock. The thick wintry mist
hung in the valley of the Goldbach and rolled
upwards to the Pratzen plateau. Its obscurity,
heightened by the lingering smoke of bivouac
fires, concealed the French columns of attack.
The thunder of artillery and the rattle of
musketry told that the allied attack on the
French right had begun and was being strenu-
ously resisted, while silence and darkness reigned
over the rest of the line. Suddenly, over the

under the eye of their Emperor. They were led
by chiefs in whom they had implicit confidence.
Their ardour was fired by the proclamation
which had been issued on the previous evening,
and the bands accompanied their regiments,
playing the old attack march —

On va leur percer le flanc
Rataplan, tire lire en plan ! "

The Pratzen height was escaladed at the
double, attacked in front and on the right and
left, and the appearance of the assailants was so
sudden and unexpected, as they issued from
the curtain of mist, that the Russians were
completely surprised. They had no defensive
formation ready, and were still occupied in the

19©

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

movement towards their left. TlTey hastily
formed in three lines, however, and some of
their artiller}' were able to come into action.
Their resistance was feeble. One after another,
their lines, broken by the stern bayonet charge,
were driven back in hopeless confusion, and
at nine o'clock Napoleon was master of the
Pratzen plateau.

Meanwhile, on the left, Lannes and Murat
were fighting an independent battle with the
Princes Lichtenstein and Bagration. Murat, as
the senior marshal and brother-in-law of the
Emperor, was nominally the superior ; but, in
real fact, Lannes directed the operations of the
infantry, which Alurat powerfully supplemented
and aided with his cavalry. General CafFarelli's
division was formed on the plain on Lannes's
right, while General Suchet's division was on
his left, supported by the " Santon " height,
from which poured the fire of eighteen heavy
guns. The light cavalry brigades of Milhaud
and Treilhard were pushed forward in observa-
tion across the high road to Olmutz. The
cavalry divisions of Kellermann, Walther,
Nansouty, and d'Hautpoul were disposed in two
massive columns of squadrons on the right of
CaffarelH. Against this array were brought
eighty-two squadrons of cavalry under Lichten-
stein, supported by the serried divisions of
Bagration's infantry and a heavy force of
artillery.

The combat was commenced by the light
cavalry cf Kellermann, which charged and
overthrew the Russo- Austrian advanced
guard. Attacked in turn by the Uhlans of the
Grand Duke Constantine, Kellermann retired
through the intervals of Caffarelli's division,
which, by a well-sustained fire in two ranks,
checked the Uhlans and emptied many of their
saddles. Kellermann re-formed his division
and again charged, supported by Sebastiani's
brigade of Dragoons. Then followed a succes-
sion of charges by the chivalry of France, led by
Murat with all the elan of his boiling courage.
Kellermann, Walther, and Sebastiani were all
wounded, the first two generals seriously. In
the last of these charges the 5th Chasseurs,
commanded by Colonel Corbineau, broke the
formation of a Russian battalion and captured
its standard. Caffarelli's infantry were close at
hand, and, pushing forward, made an Austrian
battalion lay down its arms. A regiment of
Russian Dragoons made a desperate advance to
rescue their comrades, and, mistaking them for
Bavarians in the smoke and turmoil, Murat

ordered the French infantry to cease firing,
The Russian Dragoons, thus encountering no re-
sistance, penetrated the French ranks and almost
succeeded in taking Murat himself prisoner.
But, consummate horseman and man-at-arms
as he was, he cut his way to safety through the
enemy, at the head of his personal escort.

The allie:5 profited by this diversion to again
assume the offensive. Then came the oppor
tunit}- for the gigantic Cuirassiers of Nansouty.
which hurled the Russian cavalry back upon
their infantrv, and, in three successive on-
slaughts, scattered the infantry itself, inflicting
terrible losses with their long, heavy swords and
seizing eight pieces of artillery. The whole of
Caffarelli's division advanced, supported by one
of Bernadotte's divisions from the centre, and,
changing its front to the right, cut* the centre
of Bagration's infantry, driving its greater part
towards Pratzen, separated from those who still
fought at the extremity of their line.

The Austro-Russian cavalry rallied in support
of Bagration, who was now hotl}' pressed by
Suchet. Then came a magnificently combined
movement of Dragoons, Cuirassiers, and infantry.
The Dragoons drove back the Austro-Russiar
squadrons behind their infantr3\ Simultaneously
followed the levelled bayonets of Suchet's
division and the crushing shock of d'Hautpoul's
mailclad warriors. The victory was decided —
the Russian battalions were crushed, losing a
standard, eleven guns, and 1,800 prisoners. The
rout was completed by the rapid advance of
the light cavalry brigades of Treilhard and
Milhaud on the left, and of Kellermann on the
right, which swept away all that encountered
them, and drove the shattered allied troops
towards the village of Austerlitz. The Russo-
Austrian losses on this part of the field of battle
amounted to 1,200 or 1,500 killed, 7,000 or 8,000
prisoners, two standards, and twenty-seven pieces
of artiller5^

While Napoleon had thus struck a heavj
blow at the allied centre and had been com-
pletely victorious on his left, his right, under
Davoust, was with difficulty holding its own
against Buxhowden (who had assumed the com-
mand of the columns of Doctorof and Kienmaj-er),
and but that the masses brought against it were
unable to deploy their strength it must inevit-
ably have been crushed. Thirty thousand
foemen of all arms were pressing in assault upon
10,000 French, already wearied by a long and
rapid march to their position at Ravgern. But
Davoust was able to concentr.'ite what power he

"Simultaneously followed the levelled bayonets ofSuchets Division" (/. 190).

AUSTERLITZ.

191

had, and to meet at advantage the heads only of
the cokimns which were winding their way
along the narrow passes that opened between
the lakes and through the marshy ground in hi*:
front. Even so the strain was terrible, and
Vv"ould have been more than less hard}' troops
under a less able and determined leader could
have stood. But Napoleon was quite alive to
the necessities of the gallant soldiers who were
standing their ground so staunchly. He ordered
nis reserve of Grenadiers and the Imperial Guard
to move up to the support of his right centre
and to threaten the flank of the columns that
were attacking Davoust, while he also directed
the two divisions of Soult's corps, which had
made the attack on the Pratzen plateau against
Buxhowden's rear.

It was one o'clock, and at this moment, while
the orders just given were being e.xecuted, the
Russian infantry, supported by the Russian
Imperial Guard, made a desperate eflFort to
retrieve the fortunes of the day near Pratzen,
and threw themselves in a fierce bayonet charge
on the divisions of Vandamme and St. Hilaire,
which oflTered a stout resistance. But, with the
Russian Guard ready to join in the combat, the
odds against the French divisions were too great.
It was the crisis of the day.

Napoleon, from the commanding position
where he stood, saw before him the Emperor
Alexander's guard advancing in dense masses
to regain their morning position and to sweep
before them his men, wearied and harassed by
the day's struggle. At the same time he heard
on his right the redoubled fire of the advanced
Russian left, which was pressing Davoust and
was threatening his rear. From the continued
and increasing roar of musketry and artiller}' it
almost seemed as if success must, after all, attend
the great flank movement of the allies. Small
wonder if even his war-hardened nerves felt a
thrill of confusion and anxiety when he saw
dimly appearing through the battle smoke
another black mass of moving troops.

" Ha ! Can those, too, be Russians ? " he
exclaimed to the solitary staflF-officer whom the
exigencies of the day had still left at his side.
Another look reassured him, however. The tall
bearskins of the moving column showed him
that it was his own Guard, which, under Duroc,
was moving towards the lakes to the support
of Soult and Davoust. His right and rear were,
at any rate, so far safe.

But the Russian infantry attack had been
followed by a headlong charge of the Chevalier

Guards and Cuirassiers of the Russian Guard,
under the Grand Duke Constantine, brother of
the Emperor Alexander, supported by numerous
lines of cavalry. So well led and so impetuous
was the attack, that the two battalions on
the left of Vandamme's division were broken
and swept away in headlong flight. One of
these battalions belonged to the 4th of the line,
of which Napoleon's brother Joseph was colonel,
and the Emperor saw it lose its eagle and
abandon its position, shattered and destroyed,
forming the one dark spot to suUv the brilliancy
of French steadfastness on that day of self-
devotion. The tide of panic-stricken fugitives
almost surged against the Em.peror himself. All
efforts to rally them were in vain. Maddened
with fear, they heard not the voices of generals
and officers imploring them not to abandon the
field of honour and their Emperor. Their ovAy
response was to gasp out mechanically : '' Vive
I'Empereur ! " while still hurrying their frantic
pace. Napoleon smiled at them in pity ; then,
with a gesture of contempt, he said : " Let them
go ! " and, still calm in the midst of the turmoil,
sent General Rapp to bring up the cavalry of
his Guard.

Rapp was titular Colonel of the Mamelukes, a
corps which recalled the glories of Egj'pt and the
personal regard which Napoleon, as a man, had
been able to inspire into Orientals. They, with
the Grenadiers a Cheval and the Chasseurs of the
Guard, now swooped upon the Russian squadrons.
The struggle of the me/e'e was bloodv and
obstinate between the picked horsemen o1
Western and Eastern Europe ; but the Russian
chivalry was at length overwhelmed and driven
back with immense loss. Manv standards and
prisoners fell into, tlie hands of the French,
amongst others Prince Repnin, Colonel of the
Chevalier Guards. His regiment, whose ranks
were filled with men of the noblest families in
Russia, had fought with a valour worthy of their
name, and lay almost by ranks upon the field.
It had been the mark of the giant Grenadiers a
Cheval, whose savage war-cry in the great charge
had been, as they swayed their heavy sabres,
" Let us make the dames of St. Petersburg weep
to-day ! "

When success was assured, Rapp returned
to report to Napoleon — a warlike figure, as he
approached, alone, at a gallop, with proud mien,
the light of battle in his eye, his sword dripping
with blood and a sabre cut on his forehead.

•' Sire, we have overthrown and destroyed the
Russian Guard and taken their artillery.''

iq2

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

"It was galhntly done : I saw it." replied the
Emperor. "Buc you are wounded."

*' It is nothing, sire : it is only a scratch.''

*■ It is another quartering of nobility, and I
know of none that can be more illustrious."

Immediately afterwards the young Count
Apraxin. an officer of artillery who had been
taken prisoner by the Chasseurs, was brought
before Napoleon. He struggled, wept, and wrung
his hands in despair, crying: "I have lost my
battery ; I am dishonoured : would that I could

part of the Guard, he entrusted the final
crushing of the enemies who had been driven
from the Pratzen plateau ; while he himself, with
all of Soult's corps, the remainder of his cavalry,
infantry, and reserve artillery descended from
the heights and threw himself on the rear of the
Austro-Russian left near Telnitz and the lakes.
This unfortunate wing— nearly 30,000 men —
had in vain striven since the morning to force
its way through Davcust's 10,000. Now, still
checked in front and entangled in the narrow

CHARGE Oi iliE CHEVALIER GUARDS.

die I " Napoleon tried to console and soothe him
with the words, " Calm yourself, young man,
and learn that there is never disgrace in being
conquered by Frenchmen."

The French army was now completely suc-
cessful on its centre and left. In the distance
could be seen, retiring tOAvards Austerlitz, the
remains of the Russian reserves, which had
relinquished hope of regaining the central
plateau and abandoned Buxhowden's Aving to
its fate. Their retreat was harassed by the
artillery of the Imperial Guard, whose fire
ploughed through their long columns, carrying
with it death and consternation. Napoleon left
to Murat and Lannes the completion of their
own victory. To Bernadotte, with the greater

roads by the Goldbach and the lakes, it found
itself in hopeless confusion, attacked and
ravaged with fire from three sides sim.ul-
taneously by Davoust, Soult, Duroc with his
Grenadiers and Vandamme. It fought with a
gallantry and sternness which drew forth the
admiration of its enemies, but surrounded,
driven, overwhelmed, it could not hope to extri-
cate itself from its difficulties. There was no
way of escape open but the Menitz lake itself,
whose frozen surface seemed to present a path
to safet}', and in an instant the white expanse
was blackened by the flying multitude. The
most horribl}- disastrous phase of the whole battle
was at hand. The shot of the French artillery
which was firing on the retreat broke the ice at

AUSTERLITZ.

193

many points, and its frail support gave way.
The water welled through the cracks and washed
over the broken fragments. Thousands of
Russians, with horses, artillery and train, sank
into the lake and were engulfed. Few suc-
ceeded in struggling to the shore and taking
advantage of the ropes and other assistance
which their conquerors strove to put within
their reach. About 2,000, who had been able
to remain on the road between the two lakes,
made good their retreat. The remainder were
either dead or prisoners.

At four o'clock in the afternoon the battle
was over, and there was nothing left for the
French to do but to pursue
and collect the spoils of their
conquest. This duty was per-
formed with energy by all the
commanders except Bernadotte
(even then more than suspected
of disloyalty to his great chief),
who allowed the whole of the
Russo-Austrian right, which
had been defeated by Lannes
and ^lurat and driven from its
proper line of retreat on Olmutz,
:o defile scatheless past his front
and to seek shelter in the direc-
tion of Hungary.

After the great catastrophe
on the Menitz lake which defi-
nitely sealed the issue of the
conflict, Napoleon passed slowly
along the whole battle-field,
from the French right to their
left. The ground was covered
with piles of the poor remains of those who had
died a soldier's death, and with vast numbers of
wounded laid suffering on the frozen plain.
Surgeons and ambulances were already every-
where at work, but their efforts were feeble in
comparison with the shattered, groaning multi-
tude ^^^;o were in dire need of help. The
Emperor paused by every disabled follower and
spoke words of sympathy and comfort. He
himself, with his personal attendants and his
staff, did all in their power to mitigate the
pangs of each and to give some temporary
relief till better assistance should arrive. As
the shades of night fell on the scene of slaughter
and destruction, the mist of the morning again
rolled over the plain, bringing with it an icy
rain, which increased the darkness. Napoleon
ordered the strictest silence to be maintained,
that no faint cry from a miserable sufferer

should pass unheard ; and his surgeon Ywan,
with his Mameluke orderly Roustan, gave to
many a one, who would otherwise have died, a
chance of life by binding up their hurts and
restoring their powers with a draught of brandy
from the Imperial canteen.

It was nearly ten o'clock at night when the
Emperor arrived at the Olmutz road, having
almost felt his way from one wounded man to
another as they lay where each attack had been
made and each stubborn defence maintained.
He passed the night at the small posthouse of
Posoritz, supping on a share of the soldiers'
rations, which was brought from the nearest

bivouac, and issuing order after order about
searching for the wounded and conveying them
to the field hospitals.

Though many of the most noted leaders in
the French army were wounded in the great
battle, comparatively few were killed. One of the
most distinguished dead was General Morland,
who commanded" the Chasseurs a Cheval of
the Guard. His regiment had suffered terrible
losses in the charge under Rapp against the
Russian Guard, and he himself had fallen, fight-
ing amongst the foremost. Napoleon, who was
always anxious to do everything to raise the
spirit of his troops and to excite their emulation,
ordered that the body of General Morland
should be preser\-ed and conveyed to Paris,
there to be interred in a specially magnificent
tomb which he proposed to build on the Espla-
nade of the Invalides. The doctors with the

194

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

army had neither the time nor the materials
necessary to embalm the general's body, so, as a
simple means of conservation, they enclosed it
in a barrel of rum, which was taken to Paris.
But circumstances delayed the construction ot
the tomb which the Emperor intended for its
reception until the fall of the Empire in 1814.
When the barrel was then opened for the private
interment of the body by General Morland's
relations, they were astonished to find that the
rum had made the dead general's moustaches
grow so extraordinarily that they reached below
his waist.

The defeat suffered by the Russians was so
crushing, and their army had been thrown into
such confusion, that all who had escaped from
the disaster of Austerlitz fled with all speed to
Galicia, where there was a hope of being beyond
the reach of the conqueror. The rout was
complete. The French made a large number of
prisoners, and found the roads covered with
abandoned guns, baggage, and material of war.
The Emperor Alexander, overcome by his mis-
fortunes, left it to his ally, Francis 11., to treat
with Napoleon, and authorised him to make
the best terms he could for both the defeated
empires.

On the very evening of the 2nd December the
Emperor of Austria had asked for an interview
with Napoleon, and the victor met the van-
quished on the 4th. An armistice was signed
on the 6th, which was sTiortly afterwards
followed bj' a treaty of peace concluded at
Presburg.

The total losses of the Austro-Russians at
Austerlitz were about 10,000 killed, 30,000

prisoners, 46 standards, 186 cannon, 400 artillery
caissons, and all their baggage. Their armies
practically no longer existed, and only about
25,000 disheartened men could be rallied from
the wreck.

In the joy of victory Napoleon showed him-
self generous to Austria and Russia in the terms
which he imposed, and he at once set free
Prince Repnin, with all of the Russian Imperial
Guard who had fallen into his hands. To his
own army he was lavish of rewards and acknow-
ledgments of its valour, and in the famous
order of the day which he published he first
made use of the well-known expression —
" Soldiers, I am content with you.'' Besides a
large distribution of prize-money to his troops,
he decreed that liberal pensions should be
granted to the widows of the fallen, and also
that their orphan children should be cared for,
brought up, and settled in life at the expense of
the State.

The campaign of Austerlitz is probably the
most striking and dramatic of all those under-
taken by Napoleon, and its concluding struggle
was the most complete triumph of his whole
career. It was the first in which he engaged
after assuming the title of Emperor and be-
coming the sole and irresponsible ruler of
France. Unlike the vast masses of men which
he directed in subsequent wars, his army was
then almost entirely composed of Frenchmen,
and its glories belonged to France alone. Though
for several years to come the great Emperor's
fame was to remain undimmed by the clouds of
reverse, it never shone with a brighter lustre
than at the close of 180S.

195

JIQIOfciODIiiiaeDEMiiDIDi^lDmiiaDII® LORD WOLSELEY ®lHDiMMQBQEIHDgiBg[jniiiDBQilluinE3l

HRABI PASHA and his rebellious am-
bition were the cause of the British
campaign in Egj-pt (1882) which cul-
minated in the battle of Tel-el-Kebir
— a word which simply means " the large vil-
lage." Arabi was of low origin, but had risen
by his ability and force of character to be a very
popular colonel in the Egyptian army of the
Sultan of Turkey's Viceroy, or Khedive, Tewfik.
He was an ardent advocate of the policy of
" Egypt for the Eg}'ptians " ; but in the cham-
pionship of this policy he forgot that, amongst
other countries, England had immense interests
at stake in Egypt, not only as the holder of
about four millions sterling of Suez Canal stock,
but also as the mistress of India, to which the
Canal formed a commercial and military route.
But Arabi, making light of these things, became
violently opposed to the growth of English in-
fluence in his native country, and to such an
extent that at last he even sought to substitute
his own power for that of his master, the
Khedive.

To let things go on in Egypt in this way would
have been to allow them to drift into chaos, and
therefore England resolved to put down the
rebellious Pasha. The latter had been making
great progress with his plans at Alexandria,
which became the scene of a massacre of Euro-
peans ; and he had begun to arm the seaward
forts of the city in a manner most threatening
to the British fleet. Thereupon he was told that
if he placed any more guns in position, he would
draw upon himself the fire of Sir Beauchamp
Seymour's ironclads in the bay. Arabi made
bold to disregard this warning, and, accordingly,
on the morning of July nth, Sir Beauchamp's
war-vessels opened fire on Arabi's forts, bat-
tering some to pieces and silencing all before
sunset. This was the first noteworthy action
which the British fleet had fought since the days

of Sebastopol, proving that its glor}- — founded
on the courage, skill, and discipline of its sailors
— had by no means departed.

But his defeat at Alexandria, far from breaking
the power and priue of Arabi, had the eff"ect only
of deepening his hatred of the English, and he
retired into the interior with the view of organ-
ising further opposition to our arms. He had
thrown down the gauntlet, and England could
not refuse to pick it up. As our fleet could not
sail up the Nile to Cairo, it behoved us to equip
and send out an army which should land in
Egypt, seek out Arabi wherever he was to be
found, and make an end, once and for ever, of
him and his rebellious force. This army was
entrusted to the command of Sir Garnet (after-
wards Viscount) Wolseley, who had already dis-
tinguished himself in so many of our " little
wars " that he was facetiously termed " our only
General."

Nor could the command of the expedition
have been given to a better man. Sir Garnet
was a tried soldier, and now he became a prophet
as well. Before leaving England he had laid
his hand, with remarkable foresight, upon the
map, and, pointing to Tel-el-Kebir, said that
he would engage and beat the army of Arabi
there, about the 13th September ; and he kept
his word to the very Ic' ter. At first the French
seemed inclined to share with us the work of
restoring order in Egypt ; but at the last
moment thev stood aside and left England to
deal with the task of quelling Arabi.

To accomplish this task, England at once began
to bring together in Eg}-pt an army — or Army
Corps — of about 40,000 men. Some came from our
garrisons in the Mediterranean — Malta, Cj-prus,
and Gibraltar — others were brought from India,
and the remainder sent out straight from
England.

Being gathered, as it waSj from so m?jay

196

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

different sources, this huge force could not, of
course, all land at once ; but the marvel was
that its component parts reached the trysting-
ground in Egypt so soon as they did, and it
was admitted on all hands that no other nation in
the whole world could have performed such a
difficult transport operation so swifth' and so well.
It was known that Arabi had about 60,000
fighting men at his disposal, which was 20,000
more than were commanded by Sir Garnet
Wolseley ; and if these two armies had met one

challenge him to battle at the Egyptian lines ol
Kafr Dowar.

In order to encourage this delusive belief in
the mind of the rebel Pasha, a considerable
force had already landed here and indulged in
feints against the foe. Sir Garnet had craftily
caused it to be spread abroad that the gross of
his force aboard the transports in the bay was
going to be put ashore ; but what was the sur-
prise of everyone — for the secret had been in
the keeping of only one or two — to behold one

THE SWEET-WATER CANAL.

another in full force, there is no saying but that
the result of the campaign might have been
different. But the beauty of Sir Garnet's war-
policy was that he kept his opponent so long in
the dark as to where he meant to strike ; with
the natural result that Arabi, deeming it wise to
be prepared on every hand, had his 60,000 men
portioned out at the likeliest places, all over the
Delta — some in the neighbourhood of Alexandria,
some at Cairo, and some at Tel-el-Kebir, a com-
manding point on the railway between Ismailia,
on the Suez Canal, and the capital. This suited
Sir Garnet to perfection, and his great aim was
to make Arabi think that he meant to land the
bulk of the British force in Alexandria, and

IHE SWtLl WAILK CANAL, AI Ib\I-MLIA

night the magnificent flotilla of troopships,
escorting ironclads and all, steaming aw a} m
majestic procession towards the east and the
mouth of the Suez Canal !

Ismailia, on the Canal, midway between
Port Said and Suez, had been aimed at by Sir
Garnet from the beginning ; and here, in truth,
on the 20th August — onl}^ a short eighteen days
after he had left England by the sea route — the
British army began to disembark on the burning
sands of Egypt.

Among these burning sands, water was more
precious than gold and silver to the British
soldier ; but the only source of its supply was
the Fresh-water Canal running through the arid
desert from the Nile to Ismailia alongside of a
railway line, and it therefore behoved the
English commander to secure the water in this
canal from being cut off by the enemy. But to
do this it was necessary above all things to push
forward an advance force about twenty miles
into the very heart of the desert as far as a place

KASSASSIN : TEL-EL-KEBIR.

197

called Kassassin, where there was a lock, and
accordingly this was done with the utmost
courage and promptitude.

At Mahuta the Egyptians had made an attempt
to bar this advance, but their opposition was
swept awav like chafF, and soon thereafter General

were things on which no one could reasonably
hope to whet his teeth and thrive. Two main
actions were fought at Kassassin — though these
formed the mere prelude, so to speak, to the
grand spectacular drama that was presently to
be enacted at Tel-el-Kebir.

"THE EGYPTIAN BATTALIO.NS ... HAD BKEN TRAMPLED AND SABRED INTO POSITIVE

ANNIHILATION " (/. 199)-

Graham reached Kassassin Lock with his van-
guard, entrenching himself in that position with
strict orders to hold it against all comers. Well
aware of the importance of this position for the
British, the Egyptians made several attempts to
drive them out of it and back to Ismailia before
reinforcements could reach them ; but each
time they recoiled from the enterprise with the
bitter conviction that British bullets and sabres

The chief of these preliminary actions, fought
on the 28th August, will always be memorable
for the grand cavalry charge which closed it.
Early in the morning General Graham had
become aware that the Egyptians were making
preparations to attack him from a circle of
sand-hills which formed a kind of amphi-
theatre around Kassassin. Graham's force was
by no means a large one, but it was impossible

xgS

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

for the Eg3'ptians to make out how strong
it really was, and it is always half the battle
to be able to conceal your plans and numbers
from the enemy. A few days previously
Arabi had sent out his second-in-command,
Mahmoud Fehmi Pasha, a great engineer
and reader of military signs, to discover the
strength and dispositions of Graham, but by a
curious accident he fell into the hands of the
English and never returned to his own side.
To this capture Arabi himself afterwards attri-
buted the sole blame of his not having been

battle. Come they also did with right good
will, for they were all burning for a fight, but
only to hear that the Egyptians, after using
their guns for some time, had apparently retired
again behind their sand-hills ; so back they went
to Mehsameh and off-saddled, again.

The heat was terrific, and bucketfuls of water
from the canal had to be poured on the heads of
the English artillerists to enable them to stick
to their guns. Sunstrokes were numerous, but
our men bore all their sufferings with a fortitude
truly heroic. The scorching heat was probably

able to oust the audacious English from their
advanced post at Kassassin — and the incident
will show how very important it must always be
in warfare to seize and detain spies.

Graham's force at Kassassin was not a large
one (under 2,000), consisting mainly of a com-
pany of Royal Marine Artillery, the Duke of
Cornwall's regiment, the York and Lancasters,
with some mounted infantry and a few guns,
one of which, under Captain Tucker, was
mounted on a railway truck. But the Egyptians,
taking a leaf out of our own book of war, had
by this time imitated us in this respect — though
they were very bad range-finders, and did us
little harm.

Drury Lowe's Cavalr}^ Brigade, consisting of
the 7th Dragoon Guards and three squadrons
of Household Cavalry (contributed by the ist
and 2nd Life Guards, and " Blues," or Horse
Guards, respectively) were stationed some miles
to the rear at Mehsameh, and Graham helio-
graphed to these splendid troopers to come and
help him on his right flank in the impending

the reason why the Egyptians had drawn off
from their first attack on Kassassin, but towards
the cool of the evening they again began to push
forward from their sand-hills and threaten the
British position. The left of this position was
well protected, but the right less so ; and, in-
deed. General Graham expressly made such a
disposition of his force on the latter flank as
might tempt the enemy down from his sand-
hills so as to essay a turning movement, when
they would be caught in the trap which he was
preparing for them.

To this end, about 5.20 p.m., he despatched
his aide-de-camp. Lieutenant Pirie, 4th Dragoon
Guards, with a message to Drury Lowe, in the
rear, at Mehsameh, or wherever he should be
found, " to take the cavalry round by our right,
under cover of the hill, and attack the left flank
of the enemy's skirmishers."

But when Lieutenant Pirie did at last reach
Lowe, after a long and fatiguing ride through
the arid desert sand — in the course of which his
horse fell under him from sheer exhaustion and

[ASSASSIN : TEL-EL-KEBIR.

199

he had to borrow another mount from a gun-
team — he dehvered his message in this altered
form, that " General Graham ivas only jtist able
to lu)ld his own^ and wished General Drury Lowe
to attack the left of the enemy's infantry skir-
mishers." The famous cavalry charge at Bala-
clava had been due to a similar mistake in the
delivery of a verbal order, though at Kassassin,
as it turned out, the repetition of this mistake
did not result in disaster, but in victory. So far
was Graham from not being able to hold his
own that, about two hours after despatching
Lieutenant Pirie for the cavalry, he had ordered
a counter-attack and a general advance of
his line, which had meanwhile been reinforced
by a fresh battery, for his other guns had been
obliged to retire out of action, owing to want of
ammunition, it having been found impossible
to drag the battery carts through the deep and
yielding sand.

It was while Graham was engaged in this
general advance that at last Drury Lowe arrived
upon the scene with his cavalry. The sun had
now set, but a bright moon was shining, and the
flashes from the Horse Artillery and infantry
afforded some guide for the movement of the
British horsemen, which was directed on the
evening star — the orbs of heaven being the only
landmarks in the nocturnal desert. Suddenty the
cavalry came in sight of the extreme left of the
Egyptians, and was at once exposed to a heavy
fire. " Shells screamed and shrapnel bullets tore
up the road on either side of us." Rushing
to the front, the guns of the Horse Artillery
attached to the Cavalry.' Brigade unlimbered and
belched out several rounds of shell on the
Egyptian masses. Then the front of these
British guns was rapidly cleared, and Drury
Lowe gave the Household Cavalry' the order to
charge.

Led on by Colonel Ewart, away with a wild
cheer went the three ponderous squadrons of
clanking giants straight at the Egyptian batta-
lions, which in a tew more moments had been
trampled and sabred into positive annihilation.
" Now we have them ! " Sir Baker Russell had
cried out to the men ; " trot — gallop — charge ! "
Sir Baker's own horse was shot under him, but
he caught another, and was soon again in the
thick of the fray. Many were the feats of
personal adventure in connection with this
glorious charge. Some of the troopers were
killed, some lost themselves in the darkness
and were taken prisoners, happy to escape the
barbarous mutilatiops that were perpetrated

by the Egyptians on the British dead and
wounded.

The cavalry charge at Kassassin was a splendid
feat of arms, but it somehow or other became
the subject of as curious a myth as that
which gathered round the sinking of the
Vengeiir on the "glorious ist of June." At
Balaclava the Light Brigade had ridden down
upon the Russian guns, and nothing would
content the chroniclers of Kassassin but the
performance of a similar act of glory. The
illustrated papers of the day which had artists in
Egypt gave stirring pictures of our Life Guards-
men dashing through the smoke of the Egyptian
batteries, slashing and thrusting at the gunners
as they crouched for shelter beneath their pieces.
But this was pure imagination. If commanded
to do so the Life Guards would have charged
into the very " mouth of hell," not to speak of
Egyptian guns. But what they were ordered
to "go for " was the Egyptian infantry, which
was considerably in front of its guns, and these
had limbered up and retired from action, render-
ing it impossible for our victorious troopers to
see and capture them in the darkness. But the
day had been won all the same, and another
bright name blazoned on the victory roll of the
British army.

A few days later, on 9th September, another
attack of the Egyptians on Kassassin was beaten
off in the most brilliant manner, the 13th Bengal
Lancers, in their picturesque turbans, especially
distinguishing themselves; and there were many
who thought that Sir Garnet Wolseley ought to
have rushed the not far-distant entrenchments
of Tel-el-Kebir there and then. But though
this might certainly have been done, there were
certain weight}^ reasons of military policy against
the step. For a commander must not be too
much of a Hotspur, but think of ulterior aims
as well as of present opportunities. It is the
man who can bide his time that will ultimately
win.

Foiled in their repeated attempts to bar the
British advance, Arabi and his Egyptians now
finally withdrew behind the entrenched lines of
Tel-el-Kebir, there to stand on the defensive
and await attack. These formidable lines, which
ran along a ridge of rising ground, presented a
front of about four miles long, and had been
constructed according to the most advanced
principles of military engineering. The Egyptians
are great hands at the spade, being constantly
employed in the throwing up of water-
dams and the like, and many thousands of

200

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

willing hands had been at the disposal of Arabi
in the task of raising his famous line of earth-
works. How many men of all kinds — Egyptians,
Nubians, Bedouins, etc. — Arabi had behind the
shelter of these parapets Sir Garnet Wolseley
did not exactly know, but concluded that the
number could not be far short of 22,000.

On the other hand, the English commander
had now with him about 17,000 officers and
men, with sixty - seven guns, wherewith to
crack the nut that was presented by Arabi's
entrenchments, and these Sir Garnet resolved
to storm at the hour when darkness was be-
ginning to glide into dawn — for the reasons that

them. On the right marched the 1st Division-
commanded b}' General Willis, the front, or
leading Brigade, under Graham, consisting of
the Royal Irish, Royal Marines, York and Lan-
casters, and Royal Irish Fusiliers. Behind them,
at a distance of about a thousand yards, was the
Brigade of Guards (Grenadiers, Scots, and Cold-
streams), under the Queen's soldier-son, the
Duke of Connaught. The left of the attacking
line was occupied b}- the 2nd Division, led by
General Hamley (a great writer on the art of
war), the front position of honour and of danger
being accorded to the Highland Brigade of
one-armed Sir Archibald Alison (son of the

■£',

SABA BIER.

The Valley of the Saba Bier (Seven Wells), along which the troops marched on the advance upon Tel-el-Kebir.

at this cool hour his troops would naturall)- fight
much better than under the roasting rays of the
sun, that they would be less exposed to the
enemy's fire in the faint light, and that they
would also profit by the demoralisation which
invariably seizes upon soldiers when set upon
unawares. But, to make the surprise complete,
it was necessary- that the very utmost care should
be taken to give no indication to the watchful
Egj-ptians behind the earthworks of the stealthy
approach of their British foes. When ranked
into line, the storming columns were to advance
— not to the word of command, but by the mere
guidance of the stars, like so many ships at sea.
Not a pipe was to be lit, not a whisper heard in
the ranks, and one man of the Highland Light
Infantry, whose high-strung feelings found vent
in sudden shouts, only escaped bayoneting on
the spot by being chloroformed to keep him
still and left behind.

The night (September 12-13) was more than
usuall}' dark, and it was some time before the
troops could be placed in the positions assigned

celebrated historian of " Europe "), composed of
the famous Black Watch, Gordon Highlanders,
Cameron Highlanders and Highland Light
Infantr}', four of the finest battalions that ever
wore the kilt and trews or thrilled to the
stirring strains of the Celtic war-pipe. Behind
these Scottish battalions marched, as a reserve,
Ashburnam's Brigade of the King's Royal Rifles
and Duke of Cornwall's Infantry-, while in the
interval between the two Divisions was placed
General Goodenough's crushing mass of artillery
of forty-two guns. On the extreme right reai
flank of the assaulting force marched Drury
Lowe's cavalry heroes of Kassassin, already
spoiling for another charge ; while on the ex-
treme left of the British line, on the other side
of the Fresh-water Canal, followed the Indian
contingent of General Macpherson, consisting of
the Seaforth Highlanders, three battalions of
native infantr\-, Bengal Cavalr}', and some
mountain guns, the task of this contingent
being to turn Arabi's right flank, which rested
on the canal.

KASSASSIN : TEL-EL-KEBIR.

20I

Arabi and his men fondly believed that all
this British force was sleeping the sleep of
wearied soldiers at Kassassin and other points
between that place and the Suez Canal. As a
matter of fact, it was marshalling itself in line of
battle array as above detailed on an elevation
called Ninth Hill, about five and a half miles

by the long and strenuous march, they were all
eager to be led on to the fight without further
delay. Until the hour of starting, all the men
stretched themselves on the sand to snatch what
brief and hurried sleep they could. From pre-
vious experience it was reckoned that the actual
progress over the desert, with its darkness

CARRYING THEM WITH THE HAYONET' (/>. 203).

from Arabi's lines, from which it remained
hidden by the impenetrable curtain of the night.
Some of the regiments — notably the High-
landers — had but a few hours before hurried up
to the front from Ismail ia*; yet, though wearied
* For an account of many striking incidents of the
march, some of our readers may be glad to be referred to
the graphic narrative of Sergeant Arthur V. Palmer, of
the 79th Highlanders, in the Nineteenth Century for March,
1890, entitled "A Battle. Described from the Ranks,"
and to the controversy to which it gave rise in ensuing
numbers of the same publication.

and other difficulties, would be about one
mile per hour — ^just think of that! — so that
by starting at 1.30 a.m.. Sir Garnet calculated
to reach the enemy's works just before the first
gleam of dawn — so nicely was everything planned
beforehand. " The long sojourn at Ninth Hill,"
wrote General Hamley, " while waiting for the
moment to advance was of a sombre kind : we
sat in silence on our horses or on the sand, while
comrades moving about appeared as black figures
coming out of the darkness, unrecognisable

202

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

except by their voices. A skirmish had taken
place some days before near this spot, in which
men and horses were slain, and tokens of it were
wafted to us on the breeze." Once there was a
false alarm on the right, and the prostrate men
sprang to their feet; but it turned out to be only
a body of British cavalry moving across the front
of the line.

At last, in the lowest undertone, word was
passed along all the line to advance, and soon
nothing was heard but the " swish-swish " of
the battalions footing it warily across the sand
as if it had been snow — silence otherwise

ARAIU PASHA.

and darkness around and above, with the stars
shining down as they had done in the time of
the Pharaohs and the other dynasties of Egj-ptian
kings lying entombed in the Pyramids. Well
might the British troops have been impressed
with the suspense of the moment and the awful
solemnity of the scene. Directing poles had
been previously fixed in the sand by the Engi-
neers, but they proved of little or no use, the
only effective finger-posts being the everlasting
stars, and even these were now and then obscured
by clouds. Sometimes the mounted men of the
Headquarters' Staff, moving up to the columns
with Avhispered instructions, were mistaken for
prying Bedouins ; but silence and discipline were
wonderfully well preserved, and fonvard, ever
forward, moved the invisible and barely audible
masses of fighting men. Once the Highland
Brigade lay down to rest for twenty minutes,
and this was the occasion of some confusion
which was like to have ended in a calamity.
For the order thus given in the centre of the
Highland line did not reach the outer flanks,

bv reason of its being so cautiously passed from
mouth to mouth, till some time after, the con-
sequence being that as the flanks continued to
step out, \vhile maintaining touch with the
recumbent centre, those flanks lost their direc-
tion and circled round in such a manner that
the Brigade finally halted in a crescent-shaped
formation, with the right and left almost con-
fronting each other ; and but for the intelligence
and efforts of the officers, these opposing flanks,
mistaking each other for enemies, might have
come to actual blows.

With great difficulty the proper march-direc-
tion was restored, and on again swept — or, rather,
crept — the whole line, like thieves in the night.
Weird and ghostly was the eff'ect of the dim
streaks, looking like shadows of moving clouds,
but which were really lines of men stealing ovei
the desert. All these men knew that they were
forbidden to fire a single shot until within the
Egyptian lines, and that these were to be carried
with a cheer and a rush at the point of the
bayonet ; so that they almost held their breath
vv'ith eagerness, and plodded ever on like phan-
toms of the desert — silent, resolute, and prepared.
For nearly five hours they had thus advanced,
and then they knew that the supreme moment
must now be near. Nearer, indeed, than they
fancied ! For, to use again the words of General
Hamley, who was riding behind his Highlanders:
" Just as the paling of the stars showed dawn to
be near, but while it was still as dark as ever, a
few scattered shots were fired in our front, pro-
babl}' from some sentries, or small pickets, out-
side the enemy's lines. No notice was taken of
this, though one of the shots killed a Highlander;
the movement was unchanged, and then a
single bugle sounded within the enem3-'s lines.
These were most welcome sounds, assuring us
that we should close with the foe before daylight,
Avhich just before seemed very doubtful. Yet a
minute or two of dead silence elapsed after the
Egyptian bugle was blown, and then the whole
extent .of entrenchment in our front, hitherto
unseen and unknown of, poured forth a stream
of rifle fire. Then, for the first time that night,
I could reall}- be said to see my men, lighted by
the flashes. The dim phantom lines which I
had been looking on all night suddenl}' woke to
life as our bugles sounded the charge, and, re-
sponding with lusty, continued cheers, and with-
out a moment's pause or hesitation, the ranks
sprang forward in steady array."

It was as if the footlights of the rebel Pasha's
long-extended stage had suddenly flashed out

KASSASSIN : TEL-EL-KEBIR.

20.3

with blinding flame ; and now the vast and
solemn theatre of the desert, which a moment
before had been wrapped in the deepest silence
and darkness, grew luminous with lurid jets of
fire and resonant with the deafening rattle of
Egyptian musketry and the roar of guns — a
transformation scene as sudden as it was impres-
sive. Never had British soldiers been actors
on such a grandly picturesque stage. But
do you suppose that these soldiers returned the
volleys rained on them by the Remingtons of
Arabi's men ? Not a bit of it. Not a single shot
was fired from our lines ; but bayonets were
fixed, and away like an avalanche dashed the
redcoats on the foe. Their distance from the
blazing line of entrenchment was deemed to be
about 1 50 yards, and in the interval nearly 200
men went down, the 74th (Highland Light In-
fantry) on the left losing five officers and sixty men
before it got to the ditch. This was six feet wide
and four feet deep, and beyond was a parapet
ten feet high from the bottom. The first man to
mount this parapet was Private Donald Cameron,
of the Cameron Highlanders, a brave young
soldier from the braes of Athol ; but he at once
fell back among his struggling comrades with a
bullet through his brain, dying the noblest of all
deaths. Little wonder that, on passing the 79th,
after the battle, General Alison exclaimed, "Well
done, the Cameron men ! Scotland will be
proud of this day's work ! "

It so happened that in the darkness the High-
land Brigade, which formed the left of the attack,
had got considerably in front of the rest of the
line, so that it was the first, so to speak, to break
its bayonet-teeth on Arabi's entrenchments ; and
the seizure of these works for the first ten
minutes to a quarter of an hour of the fight was
the history of the advance of the kilted warriors
from the North. They had not fought better
even at Fontenoy, Quebec, and Ouatre Bras ;
nor were their present foes to be despised, seeing
they were allowed by all to have borne the charge
with a discipline and a desperation worthy of
the best troops. " I never saw men fignt more
steadily," said Sir A. Alison. " Five or six times
we had to close on them with the bayonet, and I
saw those poor men fighting hard when their
officers were flying before us. All this time, too,
it was a goodly sight to see the Cameron and
Gordon Highlanders — mingled together as they
were in the stream of the fight, their young
officers leading in front, waving their swords
above their heads — their pipes plaving, and the
men rushing on with that proud smile on their

lips which you never see in soldiers save in the
moment of successful battle."

When the Black Watch had reached the
crest of the works, and were being re-formed to
attack some other guns in the interior entrench-
ments, a battery of the newly-formed Scottish
Division of the Royal Artillery swept past them,
shouting out " Scotland for ever ! " as the Grej's
and the Highlanders had done on the ensan-
guined slopes of Waterloo. Here the Black
Watch had to mourn the death of Sergeant-
Major MacNeill, who fell pierced by three bullets
after laying low six of the enemy with his good
claymore. There is a story that at one time
some confusion was caused in the onward rush-
ing ranks of the Camerons by some voices
shouting " Retire ! retire ! " and that these cries
were found to have emanated from a couple of
" Glasgow Irishmen " — Fenians who wished no
good to the cause of England and her army —
and that they were put an end to there and
then, meeting with the just fate of all traitors.
But this has been shown to be incorrect.
There were no traitors at Tel-el-Kebir. The
Irish soldiers did their fair share of the fighting.
The Royal Irish on the extreme right, with a
wild yell, and all the splendid valour of their
nation, went straight as a dart at their particular
portion of Arabi's works, carrying them with the
bayonet, and turning the flank of his position.

All along the line the engagement now be-
came general, our men plying butt and bayonet
upon the Egyptians, who fell in scores — in
swarms. At the bastions stormed by the High-
land Brigade the enemy lay in hundreds. On
the other hand, the total losses of the British
army at Tel-el-Kebir amounted to 339, of which
243 occurred in the Highland Brigade, leaving
q6 to represent the losses of the rest of the force.

fnder the Queen's soldier-son the Guards
were in the second line as a reserve, but so
quickly and successfully had the works been
stormed that they were not required to fire a
shot. «^ome, however, were wounded (Father
Bellew, their Roman Catholic chaplain, and
Colonel Sterling amongst others), for Arabi's
men shot high, sometimes over the heads of
the attacking party. On the other side of the
canal, the Indian contingent, with the Seaforth
Highlanders, the bronzed companions of Roberts
in his immortal march from Cabul to Candahar,
had met with less opposition, and came up just in
the nick of time to turn Arabi's right flank and
complete the rout of his broken men. His camp,
stores, and ordnance were all captured, and he

204

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

himself fled alone trom the field of battle on a
swift steed.

It was asserted by some of our ill-natured
foreign critics who were rather jealous of our
brilliant victory, that we had dimmed its lustre
by massacring many of the wounded Egyptians.
But this was not true in the sense implied.
None but savage nations commit such barbarities,
and British troops have never been wanting in
a humanity equal to their courage. Certainly
some of the wounded soldiers of Arabi had to
be bayoneted as they lay, but this was simply
owing to the fact that when our triumphant
troops were rushing on through the prostrate
ranks of their foes, numbers ot the latter,
feigning to be dead, suddenly- raised themselves
and fired at the backs of our forward-bounding
men. . There was even one case, at least, where
a wounded Eg^-ptian did this after being treated
to a pull from the water-bottle of a kind-hearted
Highlander (the Sergeant Palmer to whose
account of the battle reference has already been
made in a note) ; and for such an act of base
ingratitude and treachery, there could only have

been one possible answer — the ba3-onet point.
By the time the action was over, our own men
were suffering frightfully from thirst, nor could
many of them be restrained from rushing to
quench their thirst in the adjacent canal,
although the water was almost putrid from the
corpses of men and the carcases of animals.

The battle had been won by the- British in-
fantry, but the artillery and cavalry (as well as
a splendid body of Blue Jackets) came up to
carry on the pursuit of the flying foe and pluck
the fruits of victory, which, on the night of the
following da}', fell into the hands of the English,
when their cavalry, after a splendid forced march
of about forty miles under a blazing sun, entered
Cairo just in time to save the city from destruc-
tion and capture Arabi himselr.

After Waterloo we sent the despot Napoleon
to St. Helena, and after Tel-el-Kebir we sent
the rebel Arabi to Ceylon, where he had
leisure enough to reflect on the folly of having
called out into the field against him as finely-
organised a force as ever added lustre to the
British arms.

ARABI SURRENDERING TO GENERAL DRUKY LOWE.

20:

IT must have seemed to the people of the
United States as if Sunday was to be for
them a day of fate. Bull Run, the
initial battle of the Civil War, was
fought on a Sunday, and Shiloh, the battle
which may be considered the second clear
point of the great struggle, began on a
Sunday. But here coincidences between the
battles did not end. A General Johnston
(Albert Sidney at Shiloh and Joseph Eggleston
at Bull Run) and General Beauregard com-
manded the Southern forces on both occasions ;
moreover, each battle may be said to have had
two clearly defined parts, and in each first
appearances, as is so often the case in things
civic or military, proved deceptive. At noon
on the Sunday of Bull Run the Federals
had carried all before them ; and at noon on
the Sunday of Shiloh the South was in as
favourable a position. Yet, in the end, the
North suffered defeat at Bull Run, as did the
South at Shiloh.

The fortunes of war, ever fickle, went sadly
against the Confederates at Shiloh. Skilfully
planned and boldly executed by the Southern
leaders, if luck had been at all equally divided
between the two armies, the Confederates must
surely have won. But in the thick of the action,
when Sherman had been driven back step by
step, when Prentiss and his whole command
had been captured, and when nothing seemed
able to stay the march of the South, and none
to withstand their savage charges — when, in
fact, it looked as though Grant and his army
must inevitably be annihilated or swept into
the Tennessee River — then it was that a rifle-
bullet struck General Johnston. The leader of
the Confederate army fell, and in a few minutes
bled to death.

The news ran along the Southern line, and
to everj'one who heard it, foretold disaster.

It checked the charges of the South more
effectively than ten thousand Federals could
have done. The men from the South lost
heart. Their ardour cooled, and the partial
cessation of the fight allowed the Northerners
the breathing-time they so sorely needed.

To add to the confusion of the Confederates,
General Beauregard, second in command to
Johnston, could not at once be found, and for a
time the army was leaderless. When Beauregard
learned of the death of his chief, he hastened
to assume command ; but before he could get
his army in hand, two invaluable hours were
lost. This left him with far too short a spell of
daylight before him to successfully accomplish
all that was needed to be done for victory.
Night came on, and with the night came
General Buell and 30,000 men to the relief of
Grant.

Next day General Beauregard found himself
outnumbered, an army of fresh men opposing
him, and the victory so nearly won was snatched
from him.

The defeat of the Federal forces at Bull Run
came as a great humiliation to the North, but it
served a good purpose nevertheless. Up to the
destruction of McDowell's army at Bull Run,
the people ot the Free States had looked upon
the rebellion of the Slave States as a trivial
matter, of little moment, scarcely a rebellion at
all. But when the dead, wounded, and missing
of Bull Run were counted, the gravity of the
situation came home to a people unused to war.
It was then recognised that the enlisting of
75,000 men, and these for three months only,
had been but trifling with a situation full of
grave danger. President Lincoln called for
500,000 men to serve for three years, and this
call was answered bv close upon 700,000. These
men enlisted in all sincerity, and from that day
to the close of the war there were no longer

2o6

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

lighthearted, boisterous mobs, tramping gaily to
the South, but armies moving seriously, and fully
recognising that a stubborn contest lay ahead.
Bull Run was fought near Washington on the
Atlantic slope, but Shiloh brings us to the
Mississippi Valley. The battle-field is in the
State of Tennessee, near to the border of the
State of Mississippi, and rests on the Tennessee
River at a place called Pittsburg Landing. Li-
deed, the battle would have been more appro-
priately named the Battle of Pittsburg Landing
— many do speak of it as such.

Leading up to the Battle of Shiloh were
several important movements and events. In
the first place, at the outbreak of rebellion, the
State of Kentuck}-, to use an American ex-
pression, attempted to '' sit astraddle the fence."
A majority of those in authority in that im-
portant State, sympathising with the South, but
recognising that the people of the State were
largely in favour of maintaining the Union,
tried to induce them to declare neutrality — to
notify both North and South that any attempt
to send troops into Kentucky would be resisted
b}- the troops of the State.

This, on the face of it, was an impossible
position. If President Lincoln had recognised
the right of a State to remain neutral, and to
forbid the passage across it of national troops,
he would soon have found a barrier of such
States running clear across the continent, and
in the end he would have been unable to stamp
out the rebellion at all. Lincoln refused to
recognise such a position, and the people of
Kentucky, thinking better of it, declared their
lo3-alt3- and offered service.

When those at the head of Southern affairs
saw_ that Kentucky could not be hoodwinked
even by such a plausible plea as negative action.
General Polk, commanding a Southern force of
considerable dimensions, was ordered to push up
into the State. This he did, and seizing Columbus,
an important town some twenty miles or so
south of the junction of the Mississippi and
Ohio rivers, established there his headquarters.

Another force of Southern troops took posses-
sion of Bowling Green, an important centre on
the far east of Kentucky. Between these two Con-
federate centres the rivers Tennessee and Cum-
berland flowed, the rivers themselves and their
valleys forming natural highways to the verj-
heart of the South. To prevent any such use
being made of these by the Federals, the Con-
federates built two forts — Fort Henry on the
Tennessee River, and Fort Donaldson on the

Cumberland River. These were placed at points
where the two rivers were onl}- twelve miles
apart ; and a line drawn from General Polk's
headquarters, Columbus, on the Mississippi east
to Bowling Green, intersecting the two forts,
would be the line between the North and the
South.

This General Polk, commanding at Columbus,
was a character in his way When war
broke out it found him Bishop of the Episcop.al
Church in Louisiana ; and without resigning
his ecclesiastical position — intending, in fact, to
again resume active work when the war should
be over — he accepted command of a Confederate
force and served with considerable distinction,
effectively checking Grant at the Battle of
Belmont, and holding Columbus until the capi-
tulation of Fort Donaldson, when he fell back to
join General Johnston at Corinth, which move-
ment brought him on the field of Shiloh. He
was killed on Pine Mountain by a cannon shot
in 1864.

When Polk and his Confederates seized
Columbus, a Federal force was massed at Cairo,
in the State of Illinois, not many miles north
of the Confederate headquarters. Among the
officers stationed at Cairo there was one who,
although as yet in a comparatively subordinate
position, was destined to become the central
figure of the war. Before the struggle ceased the
name Ul3-sses S. Grant became known through-
out the length and breadth of the land.

Like a large majority of the officers engaged
in the war, Grant had served through the
Mexican campaign, and at the taking of Mexico
won personal compliments from General Worth
for, amojig many other remarkable deeds,
mounting a Howitzer in a church belfry, and
from that elevation firing upon the enemy.
When the Mexican war collapsed. Grant retired
from the arm}' and lived in obscurity, at one
time tilling a small farm near St. Louis, at
another clerking in a hardware store, and again,
earning his living as a carter ; but when the
civil strife began, the Governor of Illinois
appointed him mustering officer, and step by
step he advanced until the capture of Fort
Donaldson brought his personality vividl}' before
the people of America. From that da}- his
fame as a leader spread. After years of fighting
he brought the war to a conclusion, and before
he died had been twice elected President of his
country.

But stationed at Cairo, and confronting
General Polk, he had his reputation still to

SHILOH.

207

make. The headquarters of the Northern
forces were at St. Louis, General Halleck being
then the commander of the Federals in that
part of the country. To him Grant proposed a
scheme, and applied for permission to break the
Southern line by an attack and capture of the
twin forts, Henry and Donaldson. Supplement-
ing Grant's appeal, this plan was urged upon
Halleck by many prominent military experts
in the North.

For a long time General Halleck did not
even reply to Grant's request. However, on
February ist, 1862, Grant obtained the per-
mission for which he sought, and, marching
against Fort Henr}', quickly reduced it. With-
out losing a moment's time he pushed across
the twelve miles intervening, and set about
the taking of Fort Donaldson. This proved
a much more difficult undertaking than Fort
Henry had been, but on account of divided
authority among the Confederates holding the
fort, and excellent fighting b)- the Northern
forces, this in time fell. For these successes
General Halleck was assigned to the command
of the Department of the Mississippi, and
Grant, raised to the rank of major-general,
assigned to the command of the military
district of Tennessee.

Polk evacuated Columbus, made a stand at
" Island No. 10," was driven from there, and
the Southern line was shattered.

Grant drove the Southern forces out of the
State of Kentucky and across the whole breadth
of the State of Tennessee.

General Johnston, the Southern commander,
ordered a concentration at a place called Corinth,
near the border-line of Tennessee and Mississippi,
and the Northern forces concentrating at
Savannah, twenty-three miles farther north,
made the battle of Shiloh inevitable.

On March nth President Lincoln in a war
order commanded, '' That the two departments
now under the respective commands of Generals
Halleck and Hunter, together with so much of
that under General Buell as lies west of a north
and south line indefinitely drawn through
Knoxville, Tennessee, be considered and desig-
nated the Department of the Mississippi, and
that, until otherwise ordered, Major-General
Halleck have command of said Department."
Halleck was an exacting officer, who carried
caution and prudence to such an extent that
they ceased to be virtues. About the time Lincoln
issued this war order, Grant in some way had
offended Halleck, and, as a consequence, had

been superseded for the time being in the
command by General C. F. Smith, a sturdy
soldier, held in high esteem by his superiors.
Smith was first ordered to Savannah, and when
there. General Halleck instructed him to search
out a fit position in the vicinit}- to assemble the
Federal army preparatory to advancing on
Corinth. Pittsburg Landing, nine miles south
of Savannah on the Tennessee River, and on
the direct line to Corinth, was the chosen spot,
and thither General Grant, reinstated in his
command, proceeded to take up his position
to await the arrival of General Buell and
22,000 Northern troops who were on their way
to reinforce him before he advanced to Corinth.
Both North and South, recognising the inevit-
ability of a decisive battle, set about the
amassing of troops at their respective centres —
Pittsburg Landing and Corinth.

Albert Sidney Johnston, a general who had
seen much service against the Mexicans and
Indians, and who was looked upon as the most
brilliant of all the Southern leaders, had his
headquarters at Nashville, Tennessee, when the
crushing news of the capture of Forts Henry
and Donaldson reached him. He saw that he
must without delay fall back and at some point
consolidate the scattered forces of the South.
On February i8th he moved out, evacuating
Nashville, and leaving in that city only a small
company to preserve order, made Corinth his
object point. General Beauregard, second in
command at this time as at Bull Run, was
guarding the Mississippi, and Johnston now set
about joining their two armies to check the
advance of the Federals under Grant. To
accomplish this it was imperative that Johnston
should give up his hold either on the Mississippi
or Central Tennessee, and he decided to hold
the Mississippi at all hazard. For this purpose,
and to retain control of railways indispensable
to the South, he decided that Corinth was the
proper point for concentration. Picking up on
his way all those who had escaped capture at
Fort Donaldson, he arrived at Corinth on March
24th with 20,000 men. To meet him came
General Bragg, from Pensacola, with 10,000
men ; General Polk, from Columbus ; General
Ruggles, from New Orleans ; and General
Beauregard, commanding the whole. In all,
his force numbered about 50,000 men. General
Grant, already stationed on what was destined
to be the field of the Battle of Shiloh, had about
38,000 men, and General Buell, marching to
reinforce Grant, had something like 22,000 men.

208

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

Johnston's troops as a whole were poorl}'
armed. Thousands ot them were, in fact,
practically without arms, and many regiments
were under the necessity of borrowing rifles
from other regiments with which to do their
drills. Moreover, there was a serious deficiency

and roads well-nigh impassable from heavy rains
and overflowing streams ; but Grant, with false
security, awaited his coming with no impatience.
It seems never to have crossed Grant's mind
that there existed a possibility of Johnston
attacking him. He erected no breastworks, nor

SHILOH BATTLE-FIELD : SCENE ABOVE THE RIVER WHERE THE CONFEDERATES' ADVANCE WAS CHECKED

IN THE EVENING OF THE FIRST DAY.

in ammunition, and the clothing of the majority
of the troops was in a deplorable condition.
But Johnston and his officers set to work with
the greatest determination. Green regiments
were broken into their duties, the country was
scoured for volunteers, and train-loads of arms
were hurried from the Atlantic coast. Johnston
strained every nerve to complete arrangements
and to get his army in a proper state to admit
of his attacking Grant and beating him, before
Buell could arrive with reinforcements. He had
been so fortunate as to effect the concentration
of his forces first, and there was, so it seemed to
him, a good chance of finding himself in a posi-
tion to fight the Northern army in sections. If
he could but come at Grant before Buell arrived
he entertained no fears of the results. Grant
once beaten, a highway to the north would be
thrown open to him. Buell, as it happened,
was being seriously delayed by broken bridges

does he seem to have taken the simple pre-
caution of keeping a sharp look-out Avith scouts
or pickets at a reasonable distance in front of
him. The absence of ordinary prudence must
have cost him thousands of lives in this, the
Battle of Shiloh.

All matters carefully arranged, Johnston deter-
mined to strike at Grant without further delay,
issuing marching orders on the afternoon of
April 3rd, and the Confederate army set out to
surprise the Federal army as it lay on the banks
of the Tennessee. The marching force con-
sisted of 40,000 men divided into three corps,
commanded by Generals Bragg, Hardee, and
Polk ; Breckenridge commanding the reserve
Johnston, of course, assumed supreme command,
and Beauregard was second in command, with-
out specific orders. Hardee led the van, Bragg
followed, and Polk and Breckenridge on the left
and right brought up the rear.

SHILOH.

:o9

As it turned out, the march to Shiloh was one
of galling hardship. Blinding sleet, and snow, and
rain beat upon the advancing hosts that struggled
along knee-deep in slush and mire, painfully
dragging after them ladened waggons and heavy
guns. Ill clad, poorly fed, and sore-footed from
long marches to the place of concentration, the
soldiers of the South still made the best of
matters, and seemed as eager as their commander
to strike the blow before it would be too late.
Johnston hoped to reach a position to permit of
his attacking Grant early on Saturday, April
5th ; but when he saw the slow progress his men
made along roads that were nothing but stretches

Johnston bivouacked his r.rmy within four
miles ot the Federal camp, and neither Grant
nor his officers knew anything about the
movement.

To show how completely in the dark the
Federal commander must have been, it is on!}-
necessary to look at official reports.

Sherman on Saturday reported to Grant —
"All is quiet along my line"; and later, " I do
not apprehend anything like an attack upon
our position."

The same day Grant, reporting to his superior,
Halleck, wrote—" I have scarcely the faintest
idea of an attempt being made upon us"; and

THE MARCH TO SHILOH.

ol quagmire, he almost despaired ot ever cover-
ing the miles that lay before him, and, indeed,
gave up all hope of surprising the Federals.
That Grant would fail to hear of his approach
he could not believe. But in this he was mis-
taken. Grant seemed to have abandoned all
caution, and to have made very little, if any,
attempt to keep himself in touch with the
movements of the Confederates.

After two days wallowing through the mire.

in an earlier telegram he said — "The main
force of the enemy is at Corinth."

When he was writing these words the
Confederate army, 40,000 strong, was at his
very door.

It clearly could never have entered the head
of General Smith, when he picked upon Pitts-
burg Landing as the proper camping-place for
the Northern army until such time as accumu-
lated forces warranted a march against Corinth,

2JO

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

that there was a ghost oi a chance of the South
assuming the offensive. Three sides of the
camp were bordered by waterways impassable
to troops. To the rear of the camp the
broad Tennessee River flowed, to the right
Snake Creek, to the left Lick Creek — both
deep, sluggish, and unfordable. The ground
enclosed by these waters was high, and in
places deeply scarred with gullies. The situa-
tion was a cid-de-sac^ the only opening that
towards Corinth. And when on that Sunday
morning General Johnston's army suddenly
appeared, stretching across this opening, the
army of the North found itself in a trap from
which, it beaten, there could be no escape.
Retreat was utterly impossible. There was
nowhere to retreat. Never was an army more
hopelessly hemmed about than the army of
Grant at Shiloh.

Shiloh Church stood at what may be called
the entrance to the ciU-dc-sac. Against it,
forming the right wing of Grant's army, lay
Sherman, clearly the hero of the battle. In the
centre, and on a line with Sherman, was stationed
Prentiss, while at the extreme left near Lick
Creek lay Stewart. To the left and rear of
Sherman was McClernand, while in the rear lay
the divisions of Generals Hurlbut and W. H. L.
Wallace. Another General Wallace, Lewis by
name, with 5,000 reserves, was encamped some
miles distant on the northern side of Snake
Creek. On the Tennessee River, opposite Pitts-
burg Landing, a few gunboats rode at anchor,
and these, later in the day, played a prominent
part in the action.

It was a few minutes after five o'clock on
Sunday morning, April the bth, that Johnston
ordered his army to advance. A short distance
from the Northern army the Federal pickets
were encountered. These were brushed aside,
and the Southern soldiers came cheering
and firing through the wood. Before the
Federals encamped on the banks of the .Ten-
nessee were rightly awake, the Confederates
came charging down upon the camp. Sherman's
men were the first encountered. The firing of
the pickets and the subsequent cannonading
had awakened this general to the situation, and
he called his men under arms, and drew them
up to resist the attack. Sherman's brigades
standing lirm as a rock, the Confederate attack
glanced off his ranks and struck Prentiss with
-irresistible force. This unfortunate general
attempted to stay the charge, and tor some
minutes his men, half-dressed and in confusion.

fought valiantlv ; but in a very short time
Prentiss himself and whole companies of his men
were surrounded and taken prisoners, his guns
captured, and hisjcamp overrun and destroyed.

Grant on Saturday had received a request
from General Buell to meet him at Savannah on
this Sunday morning. Little thinking that an
engagement was imminent. Grant had gone
thither to keep the appointment, and the first
news he had of the Confederate movements
was conveyed to him by the thundering of
the cannon. Listening, he soon realised that
a serious engagement was beginning. Taking
steamer to Pittsburg Landing, he arrived on
the scene of battle at eight o'clock, and found
the whole Confederate army about his ears.
With 33,000 men, to all intents and purposes
men who had been taken by surprise, he had to
fight 40,000, who for days had been looking
forward to the fray. Already his men had been
driven back all along the line. The situation
was desperate, Sherman alone having for the
three hours made a good struggle of it. Stub-
bornly fighting against overwhelming odds,
himself sorely wounded, and his men falling by
scores about him. General Sherman held his
ground so that those behind him might have
time to get into line and take up favourable
positions. Hard pressed, and in the thick of the
fire, he rode up and down the lines, personally
supervising every detail" of the fight, and nerving
his men to the great occasion. But the soldiers
of the South were not to be gainsaid. Like a
wedge, they drove themselves between Sherman
and Prentiss, being slaughtered by hundreds
in the process ; but, unflinchingly persevering,
thev assailed Sherman's left so savagely that
the general was in the end forced to use his
right as a pivot, and in that wa}- to swing his
whole command into a fresh position to save his
left being turned. In the process he lost two of
his batteries and his camp. This movement of
Sherman's permitted General Johnston to hurl
his forces against McClernand, who, unable to
withstand the ferocity of the charge, was driven
far back. Stewart, who held the extreme left
near Lick Creek, also fell back, and Hurlbut in
the centre was only saved from annihilation b}'
General W. H. L. Wallace's division coming to
his succour, and allowing his command to retire
from the open ground into a wood, where all
the day he was obliged to fight like a tiger,
withstanding charge after charge delivered by
the fiery Southerners. In the defence of this
position General W. H. L. Wallace vras killed.

SHILOH.

211

General Lewis Wallace, in command ot the
Federal reserves — 5,000 men — lay the other side
of Snake Creek, and for his arrival Grant waited
with impatience, for matters were becoming
desperate. The only way Wallace could possibly
reach the scene of battle was by means of a
bridge across Snake Creek, and so it seemed to
Grant the existence of his army now depended
on this bridge being held against capture.
Sherman knew this, too, and he gradually fell
back, until to fall back any further meant the
loss of the bridge. Then he took up as favourable
a position as he could find, and refused to retreat
one step more, although one-half of the Con-
federate army dashed against his lines. During
the long hours that he stood there, waiting for
Lewis Wallace and the reserves, it seemed as
though his whole command must be wiped out
of existence.

Drawn up in the partial cover of a wood,
with before them open rough country, across
which the enemy's forces must rush, and with
the knowledge that should they allow themselves
to be forced back their whole army would be
exterminated, each Federal under Sherman and
McClernand stood and fought with the despera-
tion of a trapped and stricken tiger. General
Johnston, hoping to force the position, hurried
forward brigade after brigade, and hurled them
against the soldiers of the North. Again and
again the van of the Confederates pierced the
ranks of the Federals, fighting hand to hand
and face to face, with thrust of bayonet and
crash of clubbed rifle, but pierced the line only
to be blotted out of existence by the men who
stood, as it were, with their backs to a wall, and
who fought the fight of grim despair. This was
the first great slaughter-pen of the bloody battle
of Shiloh. Whole companies of Southern troops,
bareheaded, barefooted, in rags, hungry, and ill-
equipped, but undaunted and determined, rushed
headlong across the rugged ground, and with
the fury of fanatics flew at the hemmed-in ranks
of the North, only to be beaten back by those
who could go back no farther. The men of the
North grimly held to their position, trusting
that fate would soon bring Lewis Wallace and
his reserves on the scene to succour an alreadj-
defeated ami}-.

The South fought for victory, but the North
fought for time, for darkness, for life.

At ten o'clock in the morning General John-
ston had the satisfaction of knowing that all
his plans had worked out to a nicety. He
had forced Grant into a corner, carried position

after position, captured manj- guns, and taken
prisoners by hundreds. Grant's army was now
confined in a space of not more than 400
acres. At eleven o'clock there came a lull in
the fight. The time had arrived for General
Johnston to begin the second movement of his
plan of battle. This was to turn Grant's left,
sweep him from Pittsburg Landing, and crush
the left against Sherman on the right. To do
this the Confederates must advance across open
ground in the very teeth of batteries and in-
trenched infantry. In the thick of this, the

most difficult work of the day, the South
suff"ered a sudden and irreparable loss. General
Johnston while directing the movement was
struck b}- a rifle-bullet. He fell, and almost
immediately died. The news ran trom lip to
lip, and checked the charge. And, to add to
the confusion. General Beauregard, on whom
the command devolved, could not at once be
found to be told that his chief was dead. The
fight still continued, but during the time it took
to find Beauregard, and the further time that
elapsed betore he could get the strings ot battle
into his hands, the Southerners fought them-
selves into some confusion, and Grant was able
to re-form and tighten up his lines. Moreover,
the Southerners had driven the Federals so
close to the river that the}' themselves, in
following up their successes, found themselves

212

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

within range ot the guns aboard the boats on
the Tennessee River, and shells from the gun-
boats began to play havoc in the Confederate
lines. But this could not be helped. It was
the price of success. The afternoon was ad-
vancing, and Beauregard hastened to the task
of the turning of the left before darkness should
make further fighting impossible. Across the
ground that divided Federal from Confederate
ran a deep scar, and on the shoulder ot the
opposite bank of this Grant had thrown up

reporting the state of things after the first day's
fight, said :

" At six o'clock p.m. we were in possession of
all his encampments between Owl (a tributary
of Snake Creek) and Lick Creeks but one,
nearly all his field artillery, about thirty flags,
colours, and standards, over three thousand
prisoners, including a division commander
(General Prentiss) and several brigade com-
manders, thousands of small-arms, an immense
supply of subsistence, forage, and munition! cf

SIIILOH BATTLE-FlEt.n : JCENE WHERE GENLRAL JOHNSTON FELL.

some hasty breastworks. When the Southern-
ers dashed into this gully, shot and shell from
the gunboats on the river shrieked up the
length of it, and an appalling rifle-fire came
down the slope and into the mass of men that
struggled forward to take the breastwork. Th-a
Federals were at their last resource. It the
breastwork should be taken, and their left
turned, it meant the end of all things to them.
The Confederates, too, were in desperation, for
night was falling upon the land, and victory still
unwon. Into the valley they poured, and up
the bank they struggled and scrambled, but
scarcely one of them reached the top. Shot
and shell and bayonet-thrust soon filled the
valley with Southern dead and wounded ; and
while the fight still continued, darkness fell, and
put an end to the day's struggle. Beauregard,

war, and a large amount of means of transpor-
tation—all the substantial fruits of a complete
victor}' — such, indeed, as rarely have followed
the most successful battles."

But this was to be the end of the fruits of
victory for the South.

When the bugles rang out on the evening
air the order to cease fighting, the soldiers of the
North, as well as those of the South, sank to
the ground in hopeless exhaustion. They had
fought like fiends from early morning, travelled
miles of country, scrambled through thickets,
across quagmires and stagnant waters, hauling
guns and waggons and stores, assisting the
wounded, savagely attacking and repulsing
attack ; and now that a truce for the night had
been declared, the soldiers found themselves so
worn and weak that man}' paid no attention to

SHILOH.

the cravings of hunger and the urgings towards
material comforts, but lay down on the ground
and bivouacked where they had stood when the
order to cease fighting reached them.

All the dark, stormy night it rained a chilling

213

Tennessee, kept up a deafening bombardment
of the Confederate quarters throughout the
whole of the night, the shells shrieking and
crashing among the trees, hurling great limbs,
and even whole tree-tops, to the ground, and

UP THE BANK TIIEV STRUGGLED AND SCRAMBLED" (/>. 212).

rain. A cold wind moaned through the trees,
and so exhausted were the unwounded that the
wounded lay in the main rmattended. (jrant
himself lay with no other covering than the
clothes he wore, his head to the stump of a
tree, and passed the night as best he could. To
add to the horrors of the night, the two gun-
boats, riding safely upon the bosom of the

finally setting fire to the leaves tiiat were on
the ground and the underbrush, until the badly
wounded were burned where they la}'.

It was indeed a night of horror, of suffering,
and ot despair.

But worst of all for the South, in the middle
of the night Buell arrived, and had the field of
battle explained to him ; and when the morning

214

BATTLKS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

dawned, his army — 22,coo men — fresh and eager
to fight, marched upon the scene, together with
General Wallace's 5,000 reserve. When Beau-
regard arose to continue the battle, he found
himself hopelessly outnumbered, and, fighting
braveh" still, was rapidly driven from all the
advantages he had gained, and in the end
routed. His men marched a miserable march
to Corinth, again through sleet and mire, but,
ftirtunately for them, the North had been too
sorely cut up to follow for any great distance.
In this woeful retreat 300 men died of cold and
privation.

In this Battle of Shiloh about 100,000 troops
all together were engaged, and of these 23,269
were killed, wounded, or missing. It was
simply a hard, stubborn fight from start to
finish ; and the death of Johnston, and Buell's
fortunate arrival in the nick of time, in all like-
lihood saved the Northern army from a most
disastrous defeat. The Confederates fought
with the fury that distinguished them all
through the war. On the other hand, the
Federals fought with the dogged determination
wiiich ultimately won them the rights for which

thev had taken up arr.is. Draper, in his history
of the American Civil War, gives the following
as the Federal and Confederate losses : —

In (Grant's army there were six divisions.
Their losses, in killed and wounded, were : —

ist. McClernand's, loss both days i,S6i

2nd. W. H. L. Wallace's, loss both days... 2,424

3rd. Lewis Wallace's, loss second day 305

4th. Hurlbut's, loss both days ... ... 1.985

5th. Sherman's, loss both days ... ... 2,031

6th. F'rentiss' (no report), loss estimated 2,000

Aggregate loss 10,606

Of BuelFs army, four divisions had marched
to Grant's aid ; of these, three were engaged : — ■

2nd. McCook's loss
4th. Nelson's loss ...
5th. Crittenden's loss

881
693
390

.Aggregate loss 1,964

The Confederate lo.s.ses were 1,728 killed,
8,012 wounded, 959 missing. Total, 10,699.

General Beauregard, after Shiloh, retired
from the command of the Confederate forces on
the plea of ill-health, and General Bragg was
made permanent commander.

PRESIDENT LINCOLN.

[Photo., Handy, South Wmhington, D.C,

:i5

THE 31st of January, 1874, will long be
a day noted in the memories of the
people who were, prior to that time, a
scourge to their neighbours and a
standing menace to the native tribes under
the British protectorate at Cape Coast. It is
probable that the exact date itself has long ere
this been forgotten, even if — which is very
doubtful — the Ashantis possess a calendar, or
have any means of calculating the dates of events,
unless these happen to occur on the longest
cr shortest day, or, perhaps, on the occasion
of a new or full moon. The memory of the
battle, however, owing to a singular custom that
prevails among them and the other peoples of
ihe coast, will never be lost as long as the
Ashantis remain a tribe. As the Greeks and
iiomaiis used to swear by their divinities, the
Ashantis swear by their misfortunes ; and the
most solemn oath that can be taken by a king
or chief of these peoples is a national defeat
or disaster. Assuredly, then, Amoaful will for
many generations be one of the most binding
oaths among the Ashantis.

Ashanti had long shared with Dahomey the
reputation of being the most warlike and blood-
thirsty of the peoples of West Africa ; they were
constantly at war with their neighbours, the
object of the incursions committed being not so
much the extension of territory as the carrying
away of large numbers of prisoners, to be
sacrificed- on the occasions of their solemn
festivals. They had long borne ill-will to the
British at Cape Coast, because of ihe protection
granted by us to the Fanti tribes ; and from the
commencement of the present centurj' hostilities
have broken out at frequent intervals, and more
than once the Ashantis have carried fire and
sword up to the very walls of Cape Coast, and
on one occasion defeated and destroyed a British
force under Sir Charles Macarthy.

This state of occasional warfare might have
continued indefinitely, had not the British ex-
changed some possessions with the Portuguese,
acquiring by this transaction the town of Elmina,
some five miles north of Cape Coast Castle, and
the protectorate of the district lying behind it.
The tribe of this district had been allies of the
Ashantis, and Elmina itself had been their port
of trade. The Portuguese had been in the habit
of paying a small annual sum to the Ashanti ;
this sum was considered by them to be a present,
but was regarded by the Ashantis as a tribute.
Ashanti, therefore, objected to the transfer, and
marched an army across the Prah to the
assistance of their allies in the districts dependent
on Elmina. Early in June, having brushed aside
the resistance of the Fantis. the invading army
reached Elmina, being joined by all the tribes in
its neighbourhood. A small party of Marines
and Marine Artillery were landed from the ships
on the coast, and inflicted a severe blow on the
invaders as they were on the point of entering
the town.

The position was so serious that the British
Government sent out Sir Garnet Wolseley, with
some twenty British oflficers, to organise, if pos-
sible, a native force to cope with the enemy : or,
if this could not be done, to prepare the way for
the landing of a British force of suflficient strength
to strike a heavy blow at the Ashantis in their
own country. Just as the party left England,
a disaster befell us. Commodore Commerell
started to ascend the Prah with boats from the
squadron on the coast. They had gone but a
short distance when they were fired upon by the
Ashantis, in ambush behind the bushes lining
the bank of the river. Commodore Commerell
was severely wounded, as were other officers and
many seamen, and the expedition was forced to
return.

The attempt to get up a large native force

2l6

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

failed ; but an expedition was undertaken from
Elniina, composed of blue-jackets and marines,
and a portion ot the 2nd West Indian Regi-
ment, and this, after a sharp brush with the
enemy, burnt several villages and cleared the
neighbourhood of the Ashantis, who had been
suffering very much during the wet season from
disease and the want of food. An attack on
Abra Crampa, whose king^had joined us heartily,

and when these landed, early in Januar\-, all was
ready for their advance. The force consisted of
a battalion of the Rifle Brigade and the 42nd ;
the 23rd Regiment remained on board the trans-
port that had brought them, it being considered
that it was better for them to stay in reserve, as
the difficulties of carriage were so great that the
fewer the number of men taken up the better.
There was also a naval brigade, composed of

i?7 V . 5 '^'^^r'^'I:>-'''

CAPE COAST CASTI.E.

was repulsed ; there was sharp fighting at
Dunqua and other skirmishes ; and the Ashantis,
disheartened by want of success, and more
than decimated b}' tever, fell back across the
Prah. The invasion had, thus far, been repelled
solely by the naval forces, aided by the 2nd West
Indian Regiment and two native regiments com-
manded by Sir Evelyn Wood and Major Baker
Russell, each of whom had some eight English
officers under him.

A road was made to the Prah, huts erected at
suitable distances for the use of the white troops,

blue-jackets and marines, some companies of the
1st and 2nd West Indian Regiments, Wood and
Russell's native regiments, and a battery of
little mountain guns commanded by Captain
Rait, and manned by natives trained by him.
and a small party of Royal Engineers. After
a few skirmishes of no great importance, the
force made their way nearly to Amoaful, where
it was known that the Ashanti army was
assembled in force to oppose their further
advance.

The white regiments halted at Ingafoo, while

lllE EON NY MEN LED THE ADVANCE" (/. 221).

2l8

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

the two native regiments, with the Engineers
and Rait's artillery, marched forward to Quar-
man, a little more than half a mile from the
enemy's outposts. Lord GifFord, who com-
manded the scouts, lay all day in the bushes
within sound of the voices of the Ashanti, while
Major Home, R.E., with the sappers, cut paths
almost up to the edge of the bush. At half-past
seven on the morning of the 31st of January, a
naval brigade, with two companies of the 23rd
who had just come up, the 42nd, and Rifle
Brigade, arrived at Ouarman and marched on
without a halt, followed by the force already in
the village, where a garrison was left with the
baggage. The two native regiments were
now reduced to but seven companies altogether,
owing to the necessity for leaving garrisons a',
the various posts along the road. The plan of
operations had already been determined upon.
The 42nd Regiment were to form the main
attacking force. They were first to drive the
enemy's scouts from the little village of Aga-
massie, just outside the bushes where GifFord's
scouts were lying, and were then to move straight
on, extending to the right and left of the path,
and, if possible, to advance in a skirmishing line
through to the bush. Two guns of Rait's battery
were to be in their centre, and to move upon the
path itself. Half the naval brigade and Wood's
regiment were first to cut a path out to the right,
and then to turn parallel with the main path, so
that the head of the column should touch the
right of the skirmishing line of the 42nd, while
the other half of the naval brigade, with Russell's
regiment, was to proceed in similar fashion on
the left.

The two companies of the 23rd were to come on
behind the headquarter staff; the Rifle Brigade
were to remain in reserve. The intention was
that the whole should form a sort of hollow
square, the column on the right and left pro-
tecting the 42nd from the flanking movements
upon which the Ashantis were always accus-
tomed to rely for victory. With each of the
flanking columns were detachments of Rait's
battery with rocket tubes.

The 42nd, as they burst out from the bush,
encountered but little opposition ; the eight or
ten houses composing the village being occupied
by but a small party of the enemy, who fled
at once into the bush beyond. This wms so
thick, and the open ground round the village
so small, that it was necessary to clear away a
space for the bearers of the litters, surgical
appliances, and spare ammunition, and it was

nearly half an hour before the rest of the force
issued from the narrow path into the open.

The pause had been a trying one, for a
tremendous roar of fire told that the Black
Watch were hotly engaged, and, indeed, had
gained but a distance of a couple of hundred
yards while the native labourers Avere clearing
the bush round the village. As soon as they
reached the open space, the flanking columns
turned off to the right and left, and it was not
long before the increasing roar of musketry
showed that they, too, were engaged.

The scene bore little resemblance to that
presented by any modern battle-field. The
Ashanti bush consists of a thick wood of trees
some forty or fifty feet high, covered and inter-
laced with vines and creepers, while the heat and
moisture enable a dense undergrowth to flourish
beneath their shade. Above all tower the giants
of the forest, principally cotton trees, which
often attain a height of from 250 to 300 feet.

Progress through this mass of jungle and
thorn is impossible even for the natives, except
where paths are cut with hatchet or sword.
These paths are generally wide enough only for
a single file, and two persons meeting in opposite
directions have a difficulty in passing each other,
the more so as long use wears down the soft,
moist earth until the tracks are converted into
ditches two or three feet deep. The ground
across which the 42nd were trying to force their
way w^as more open than usual, owing probably
to the undergrowth having been cleared away
to furnish firing to the little village. It was
somewhat undulating, and the depressions were
soft and swampy. Each little rise was held
obstinatel}" by the enemy, who, lying down
beyond the crest, behind trees, or in clumps
of bush, kept up an incessant fire against the
Black Watch ; and even the aid of Rait's two
little guns and two rocket troughs failed to over-
come their resistance. The two flanking columns
encountered even more strenuous opposition :
before they could advance into the bush a way
had to be cut for them by the natives under the
orders of the Engineer officers. Although the
troops endeavoured to cover this operation by
an incessant fire into the bush on either side,
the service was a desperate one. Several of the
men fell dead from the fire of their hidden foes,
others staggered back badly wounded, and
Captain Buckle, of the Royal Engineers, one of
the most zealous and energetic officers of the
expedition, fell mortally wounded by two slugs
in the neighbourhood of the heart.

AMOAFUL.

219

Little wonder was it that, althouga the natives
behaved with singular courage, at times the\-
quailed under the fire to which they were ex-
posed ; consequently the advance of the two
columns soon came to a standstill, and the
men lying down kept up a constant fire on
the unseen enemy, directing their aim solely
at the puffs of smoke spurting from the bushes.
So difficult was it to keep the direction in this
dense bush that both columns had swerved
from the line on which it was intended that
they should advance. The roar of fire was so
general and continuous that none of the three
columns were in any degree certain as to the
direction in which the others lay, and from each
of them messenger after messenger was sent
back to Sir Garnet Wolseley, who had taken up
his position with his staff at the village, com-
plaining that the men were exposed to the fire
from the other columns.

The noise was, indeed, out of all proportion to
the number of combatants. The Ashantis use
enormous charges of powder — which, indeed,
would be absolutely destructive to the old Tower
muskets with which they were armed were these-
loaded with tightly-fitting bullets. This, how-
ever, was not the case, as on the powder three
or four slugs of roughly chopped- up lead were
dropped loosely down : the noise made by the
explosion of the muskets so charged was almost
as loud as that of small field-pieces ; and, indeed,
although but two or three hundred yards from
the village the reports of Rait's mountain guns
were absolutely indistinguishable in the din.
The trees broke up the sound in a singular
manner, and the result was a strange and con-
fused reverberation, mingled with the hissing
sound rising from the storm of bullets and slugs
mingled with that of the rockets. Well was it
for our soldiers that the enemy used such heavy
charges, for these caused the muskets to throw
high, and the slugs for the most part whistled
harmlessly over the heads of the troops and
almost covered them with the showers of leaves
cut from the trees overhead.

For an hour this state of things continued,
the two companies of the 23rd were then ordered
to advance along the main path and to aid the
42nd in clearing the bush, where the Ashantis
still fought stubbornly not two hundred yards
from the village. Two companies of the Rifle
Brigade were sent up the left-hand road to keep
that path intact up to the rear of the Xaval
Brigade, while on the right, the rear of Colonel
Wood's column was ordered to advance further

to the right, so that the column might form a
diagonal line, and firing to their right only, net
only cover the flank of the 42nd, but do away
with the risk of stray shots striking them.
Wounded men were now coming fast into the
village— 42nd, Rifles, Naval Brigade, and natives.
On the left the firing gradually ceased, and
Colonel McLeod, who commanded there, sent
in to the general to say that he was no longer
tiotly attacked, but that he had altogether lost
touch of the left of the 42nd. He was therefore
ordered to cut a road north-east until he came
in contact with them. He experienced a resolute
opposition, but the rockets gradually drove the
Ashantis back. In the meantime, the 42nd were
fighting hard. In front of them was a swamp,
and on the rise opposite the ground was covered

with the little arbours that constitute an
Ashanti camp. Not an enemy was to be seen,
but from the opposite side the puffs of smoke
came thick and fast, and a perfect rain of slugs
swept over the ground on which the 42nd were
lying. The path was so narrow that Rait
could iDring but one gun into position. This he
pushed boldly forward, and, aided by Lieutenant
Saunders, poured round after round of grape
into the enemy until their fire slackened and
the 42nd were again able to advance.

Step by step they won their way, each ad-
vance being covered by the little gun, which did
terrible execution among the crowded, though
unseen, ranks of the enemy. The camp was
won ; but beyond it the bush was thick and
absolutely impenetrable for a white soldier, and
it was necessar\- to advance solely by the narrow
path. This was swept by a storm of slugs from
the bush on either side, although the Snider
bullets searched the bush and the guns poured

220

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

m showers of grape. At last the Ashanti fire
diminished, and the troops dashed forward up
the lane, and the bush thickened on either side
until too dense even for the Ashantis to occupy
it. With a cheer the Black Watch issued trom
the upper end of the pass, and spread out into
the wide open space dividing the village of
Amoaful into two sections. For a short time
the Ashantis kept up a fire from the houses and
from the other end of the cleared space, but the
42nd soon drove them from the houses ; and a
shell from a gun fell among a group at the
farther end of the clearing and killed eight of
them, and the rest retreated at once. Major
McPherson and eight other officers were
wounded, and the total of 104 casualties in a
force of 450 men showed how severe had been
the struggle.

It was now twelve o'clock, and although thev
had lost their camp and village and had suffered
terribly, the Ashantis were not 3-et finallv beaten.
The principal part of the force that had been
engaged upon our left had swept round to the
right, and were pressing hard upon our right
column, and cutting in between them and the
42nd. Fortunately, however, the left column
had cut its path rather too much to the east and
now came into the main path, and so formed a
connecting link between the 42nd at Amoaful
and the head of the right column. Although
the latter had been strengthened by the ad-
dition of a company of the Rifles, it suffered
severely : Colonel Wood and six naval officers
were wounded, together with some forty men.
The fire of the eneni}- at last slackened, and it
seemed as if all was over, when suddenl}- a
tremendous fire broke out from the rear of the
column, showing that the Ashantis were making
a last and desperate effort to turn our right
flank, and to retake the village from which they
had been driven in the morning.

For a few minutes the scene in the village was
exciting. So near were the enem}- that the slugs
came pattering down among the remainder of
the Rifles still held in reserve there, and thev and
the guard of the reserve ammunition prepared to
resist an attack, three companies of the Rifles at
once moving out to prolong the rear of the right
column, and so to cover that side of the village.
For a while the roar of musketiy was as heavy
and continuous as it had been during the morn-
ing, and continued so for three-quarters of an
hour. While it was going on another strong
body of the enemy attacked Ouarman, but the
small force of forty men of the 2nd West Indian

Regiment and half a company of Wood's regi-
ment, under the command of Captain Burnett,
although taken by surprise — for with a great
battle raging but half a mile away, they had no
idea of being attacked — defended themselves with
great gallantry, and even sallied out and brought
in a convoy that had arrived near the village,
and finally, being reinforced by a company of
Rifles, took the offensive and drove off theii
assailants.

Finding themselves met on whatever side
they attacked, the Ashanti fire began to relax.
As soon as it did so, Sir Garnet gave the word
for the line to advance, sweeping round from
the rear so as to drive the enemy northward
before them. The movement was admirably
executed. A company of men who had been
raised at Bonny, and who had fought steadily
and silently all the time they had been on the
defensive, now raised their shrill w^ar-cry, and
slinging their rifles and drawing their swords,
dashed eagerlv forward, while bv their sides,
skirmishing as steadily and quietly as if on
parade, the men of the Rifle Brigade searched
every bush with their bullets ; and in five minutes
from the commencement of their advance the
Ashantis were in full retreat.

The number of casualties on the part of the
white and native troops anioimted to about 250
■ — a very heavy proportion, considering the com-
paratively small number of the force engaged.
Fortunately the wounds, for the most part, were
comparatively slight : the flj'ing slugs inflicted
uglv-looking gashes, but seldom penetrated far.
Captain Buckle, of the Engineers, was the only
officer killed, but the number of wounded was
large, and included two other Engineer officers
out of the total of five engaged.

No one had shown more determined bravery
than the natives, who worked as sappers under
their orders. The work ,was trying enough
for the men, who for five hours remained
prone, returning the fire of their invisible
foes. The natives, however, for the same
time, were working continuously, cutting paths
through the thick bush and exposed defence-
less to the enemy's fire. Nearly half their
number were among the wounded. The total
number of deaths did not exceed twenty. On
the side of the Ashantis no accurate record was
obtained of the number who fell. It is their
custom always to carry off the killed and
wounded, unless hotly pressed ; and therefore,
until the last rush of the Black Watch into
Amoaful, they had ample- time to follow their

AMOAFUL.

221

usual custom. Nevertheless, the number of
dead found was very large, and the lowest calcu-
lation placed their loss at 2,000. Among these
was Amnion Quatia, the general-in-chief of the
Ashantis, and Aboo, one of the six great tribu-
tary kings of Ashanti. The Ashantis fought
with extraordinary pluck and resolution ; they,

to the British for their long endurance ot a
terrific fire from unseen foes, by the manner in
which they fought under conditions so absolutely
novel to them, and for the unwavering resolution
with which they won their way through the
bush and finally defeated a foe of ten times their
own numerical force. The victory of Amoaful

*'eacii little rise was held oe.^tinately by the
enemy" (^ 218).

indeed, enormously outnumbered the little
British force, and their position was admirably
adapted for their peculiar method of fighting.
But, on the other hand, they were wretchedly
armed, and their old and worn-out muskets were
poor weapons indeed compared with the breech-
loaders of the whites, who had, in addition, the
assistance of their guns and rocket tubes.

Great credit was due to both sides : to the
Ashantis for their obstinate and long-continued
defence, and for the vigour with which, when
their centre was penetrated, they strove to re-
deem the day by their flank attack upon us ;

virtually decided the result of the campaign, for
although the Ashantis fought again on the other
side of the river Dab, the terrible punishment
inflicted upon them at Amoaful had greatly
reduced their spirit ; nevertheless, they fought
stoutlv.

On this occasion the Bonny men led the ad-
vance up the path beyond the river, and before
they had gone half a mile were hotly engaged.
Lieutenant Saunders, with one of Kait's guns,
endeavoured to clear the bushes, but little pro-
gress was made for twc» hours, and Lieutenant
Eyre, the adjutant of Wood's regiment, fell

222

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

mortally wounded when standing near the gun.
The Rifles now relieved the Bonny men, and led
the advance, and made their way slowly forward
until within fifty yards of a large clearing, sur-
rounding a village ; then with a cheer they rushed
forward, drove the enemy from the clearing, and
occupied the village. But behind them the
combat raged for another two hours. The troops
lined the sides of the path, and repulsed all the
eff"orts of the Ashantif to break through them,
holding the position while the native carriers
took the stores, spare ammunition, and medical
comforts along the path and up to the village.
As soon as the last of these had passed along, the
troops followed, until the whole force were
gathered in and round the village.

The loss of the Ashantis can have been but little
inferior to that which they suffered at Amoaful,
for they several times approached in such masses
that the whole bush swayed and moved as they
pushed forward. On the other hand, our casual-
ties were very slight, for as the road was, like all
the paths in the country, hollowed out by the
traffic fully two feet below the general level, the
troops lying there were protected as by a breast-
work of that height. When the whole force
were assembled in the village, the enem}- still
kept up serious and desperate attacks upon the
rear, but were always repulsed by the Rifles, who
lined the edge of the clearing. Mingled with the
continued din of musketry was the lugubrious
roar of the great war-horns throughout the
woods, and the wild war-cry of the Ashantis.

The halt was a short one ; Coomassie was
still six miles distant, and soon after the force
were gathered round the village the Highlanders,
with Rait's guns, moved forward along the path.
For the first twenty minutes the fire of the
enemy was very heavy, but when the Black
Watch gained the crest of the rise beyond the
village, the resistance became more feeble, and
they dashed forward at the double, sweeping all
opposition aside. The resistance.of the Ashantis
at once ceased ; they had done all that was pos-
sible for them to do to oppose our advance, and
had failed. Their main body was still in the rear
of the village, engaged in unavailing attacks upon
the force there. Probably their best and bravest
troops were with this force, and at the rapid
advance of the 42nd a panic seized the defenders
of the path ; those in the bush could not hope
to move forward as rapidly as did the troops in
the open, while those in the villages along the
path, warned by flying fugitives of the rapid
approach of the foe, joined in their flight. The

road was strewn with articles of clothing, the
stools of state of the chiefs, weapons, and food.

From this time no single shot was fired.
The warriors in the bush, seeing that they
could not hope to get ahead of the advancing
force and make another effort to defend the
capital, either went off" at once to their villages,
or made a wide circuit and came down behind
Coomassie upon the road between that town and
a spot, five miles away, where the kings of
Ashanti were buried, and where, doubtless,
another battle would have been fought had the
troops advanced to the sacred spot. The 42nd
halted at the last village before arriving at Coo-
massie, until they were there joined b}' the rest
of the force ; then, after crossing a deep and fetid
marsh surrounding the town, they entered the
capital of the enemy. It was not, as might have
been expected, deserted : a good many of the
inhabitants remained, some of the men being still
armed, and watched with curiosity rather than
with alarm, the entry of the white warriors
who had broken the strength of their nation.
Orders were given to disarm them at once ; but
as soon as thev perceived that this was the case,
thev gradually withdrew, and in half an hour
the whole of the natives of Coomassie had dis-
appeared in the bush.

Several fires broke out in various parts of the
town. Some of these may have been the work
of the Ashantis themselves, but most of them
were caused unquestionably by the native camp-
followers, who, in spite of the stringent orders
against looting, stole away in the darkness to
gather plunder. Some of them were flogged,
and one was hung, and then, after posting pickets
thickly outside the town, the troops went off"
to sleep.

The next morning the captured town could be
fairly seen. The streets were very wide ; trees
grew in them ; and from the irregularity with
which the houses were scattered about, it re-
sembled a great straggling village rather than a
town. The houses were of the kind with which
the troops had already become familiar, and
resembled the architecture of a Chinese temple
rather than that of any other known building.
Outside was an alcove with red steps, high raised
floor, and white pillars supporting the roof.
This formed the front of the house, and
as there was no entrance from it into the
interior, it was. in fact, a sort of summer-
hovise and balcony, where the master must have
sat to look at the passing world and chat with
his acquaintances. Inside, the houses were all

AMOAFUL.

223

of the same character, comprising a number of
little courts with alcoves on one or more sides.
Ever3'thing in Coomassie bore signs of the super-
stitious belief of the inhabitants in fetish. Over
ever}'^ door was suspended a variety of charms —
old stone weapons, nuts, gourds, amulets, beads,
bits of china, bones, and odds-and-ends of all
kinds. The principal apartments of the larger
houses were lumbered up with drums, great um-
brellas, and other paraphernalia of processions ;
but there were no real valuables of any kind.

The great objects of interest to the troops
in the town were the palace and the great
fetish-tree from which Coomassie took its name.
In a large clump of bushes adjoining the latter
were found the remains of some thousands of
victims sacrificed in the bloody festivals. The
majority were, of course, but skeletons ; but there
were hundreds that could have lain there but
a few weeks, many which must have been sacri-
ficed within a few days. The stench from this
charnel- place was horrible, and pervaded the
whole town. The palace occupied a ver^' large
extent of ground. It consisted of a central stone
building of European architecture, which was used
as a storehouse and was crowded with articles of
furniture, silver plate, gold masks, clocks, glass.

china, guns, cloth, and caskets, resembling in its
confusion and the variety of its contents a suc-
cession of auction-rooms. The rest of the palace
was of native work — similar, but on a much
larger scale, to the houses of the great chiefs.

A horrible smell of blood pervaded the whole
place — for many of the executions, were held in
the palace itself. During the day the rain fell
in torrents ; and as it became known that the
king had gone right away into the interior of the
country, as provisions were running very short,
the troops were already feeling much the
effects of the climate, and as the rains would
swell ever}' stream and fill ever}- swamp, it was
decided to make a start for the coast the next
morning, after burning down the place that had
been the scene of such countless horrors and atro-
cities. This was done as the column marched
out of the town. The Engineers fired the houses
and blew up the king's palace ; and a vast cloud
of smoke rising high into the air must have told
the Ashantis, scattered far and wide through
the forests, that vengeance had at last fallen on
the city that had for so many years been regarded
by them as sacred, and had been the object of
superstitious terror and hate to the tribes for
hundreds 01 miles round.

COCMASHE.

22.1

^"^ CHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN, the cradk of
^^^ the Anglo-Saxon race, was the beau-
y^^ tiful and interesting province which
formed the bone of bloody contention
between the Prussians and the Danes in the
year 1864, just a year after the Prince of
Wales had wedded the Danish " sea-king's
daughter from over the sea," and made all
Englishmen take the very deepest interest in
the hopeless struggle of her undaunted country-
men against an overwhelming foe.

The cause of quarrel was one of the most com-
plicated questions which ever vexed the minds
of statesmen, and seemed so incapable of solution
that an irreverent Frenchman once declared it
vi'ould remain after the heavens and the earth
had passed away. But on the death of Frederick
VII. of Denmark, in November, 1863, Herr von
Bismarck, who had the year before become
Prussian Premier, determined that the difficulty
should now be settled by " blood and iron."
Briefly put, the new King of Denmark, Christian
IX., father of the Princess of Wales, wanted to
rule over the Elbe Duchies, as Schleswig-
Holstein was called, in a way, as was thought
at Berlin, unfavourable to the rights and Aspira-
tions of their German population ; while, on the
other hand, the Germanic Diet, or Council of
German Sovereigns at Frankfort, was resolved
that this should not be so. And rather than
that this should be so, it decreed " execution "
on the King of Denmark, who had a seat in the
Diet as for the Duchies, and selected two of its
members, Hanover and Saxony, to enforce its
decision.

But not content with this, Austria and
Prussia, the leading members of the Diet, also
resolved to take the field, as executive bailiffs,
so to speak, of the judgment of the German
Court ; and this they did at the beginning of
1864 with a united force of about 45.000 men.

That was not so very large a force, considering
the size of modern armies, but it was much
larger than that opposed to it by the valiant
Danes, about 36,000 in nvmiber, who were com-
manded by General de Meza. The Austrians
were commanded by Field-Marshal von Gablenz,
and the Prussians by their own Prince Frederick
Charles, surnamed the " Red Prince," from the
scarlet uniform of his favomute regiment, the
Zieten Hussars.

The Commander of the combined Austro-
Prussian army was the Prussian Field-Marshal
von Wrangel — " old Papa Wrangel," as he wa>
fondly called — who looked, and spoke, and acted
like a survival from the time of the Thirty Years'
or the Seven Years' War. He was a grim old
bean sabreur, who, in his later days, used to
grind his teeth (what of them were left) and
scatter groschen among the street arabs of Berlin,
under the impression that he was sowing a crop
of bullets that would 3'et spring up and prove
the death of all democrats and other nefarious
characters dangerous to military monarchy and
the rule of the sword in the civil state.

'' /;/ Gottcs Namcn draiif ! " — " Forward in
God's name" — "Papa" Wrangel had wired to
the various contingents of his forces on the ist
February, when at last the Danes had replied
to his demands with an emphatic " No ! " and
then the combined Austro-Prussian army swept
over the Eider amid a blinding storm of snow.

The Prussians took the right, the Austrians
the left of the advance into the Duchies ; and
after one or two preliminary actions of no great
moment, the invaders reached the Danewerk, a
very strong line of earthworks which had taken
the place of the bulwark thrown up by the
Danes in ancient times against the incursions
of the Germans. Here the Prussians prepared
for a stubborn resistance, but what was their
surprise and their delight, on the morning of the

THE REDOUBTS OF DUPPEL.

225

6th February, to find that the Danes had evacu-
ated overnight this first buhvark hne of theirs,
leaving 154 guns and large quantities of stores
and ammunition a prey to their enemies !
Caution, not cowardice, had been the motive
of this retreat of theirs, for they saw that, if they
had remained, they would have run the risk
of being outflanked and outnumbered ; so they
determined, from reasons of military policy, to
retire further northward and take up their
dogged stand behind
their second line of
entrenchments at
Diippel, there to
await the assault of
their overwhelming
foes.

Sending on the
Austrians on the
left into Jutland to
dispose of the Danes
in that quarter,
" Papa " Wrangel
selected the " Red
Princs " and his
Prussians to crack
the nuts which had
been thrown in
their way in the
shape of the re-
doubts of Diippel.
Prince Frederick
Charles was one of

the best and bravest soldiers that had been
produced by the fighting family of the Hohen-
zollerns since the time of Frederick the Great.
A man about the middle height, strongly
built, broad-shouldered, florid-faced, sandy-
bearded, bull-necked, rough in manner and
speech, and homely in all his ways — he
was just the sort of leader to command the
affections and stimulate the courage of the
Prussian soldier. There was much of the bull-
dog in the "Red Prince," so he was the very
man to entrust with such a task as that of
hanging on to the Danes at Diippel.

Yet this task was one of exceedmg difficulty,
for the redoubts of Diippel formed such a for-
midable line of defence as had rarely, if ever,
before opposed the advance of an invading army
in the open field. All the natural advantages of
ground, with its happ}^ configuration of land and
water, were on the side of the Danes, ^vhose
main object it was to prevent their foes from
setting foot on the Schleswig island of Alsen,

forming a stepping-stone, so to speak, to Den-
mark itself, much in the same way as the island
of Anglesey does to Ireland. To continue the
comparison, the Menai Strait corresponds to the
Alsen-Sund which separates the mainland of
Schleswig from the island of Alsen. Of this
island the chief town is Sonderburg, which was
connected by the mainland, into which it looks
over, by two pontoon bridges, at the end of
which the Danes threw up a tetc-du-pont^ or

bridge-head en-
trenchment, to de-
fend the approach
and passage ; while
about a couple of
miles further inland
they had constructed
a chain of no fevrer
than ten heavy
forts, or redoubts,
all connected by
lesser earthworks
and entrenchments.
This line of re-
doubts, about three
miles long, ran
right across the
neck of a penin-
sula of the main-
land, called the
Sundewitt, one end
resting on the Alsen-
Sund and the other
bay, of the Baltic, called the
The redoubts were placed
of a ridge which overlooked

lELD-MARSHAL VON WRANGEL.

on a gulf, or
Wenningbund.
alonff the brow

and commanded all the undulating country for
miles in front, while in the rear again the
ground dipped away gently down towards
the Alsen-Sund and its bridge-head, affording
fine shelter and camping-ground to the Danes.
A lovelier or more romantic-looking region,
with its winding bays and silver-glancing straits,
its picturesque blending of wood and water,
could scarcely be imagined.

Such a position as that which the Danes had
taken up would have been of no value whatever
against foes like the English, seeing that the
latter might have gone with their warships and
shelled the Danes clean out of their line of
redoubts without ever so much as landing a
single man, for, as already explained, the Hne of
forts rested on the sea at both ends. But at this
time, fortunately for the Danes, the Prussians
had little or nothing of a navy, so that they

-26

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

must needs essay on land what they could not
attempt by sea ; while the Danes, on the other
hand, though weaker on land, were decidedly
superior to their foes on water. In particular,
they had one warship, or monitor, the Rolf
Krake, which gained immortal fame by the
bold and devil-may-care manner in which it
worried, and harassed, and damaged, and kept
the Prussians perpetually awake. It lurked like
a corsair in the corners of the bays, and creeks,
and winding sea-arms of that amphibious region,
and darted out upon occasion to shell and
molest the Prussians in their trenches before
the Diippcl lines.

For the Prussians had soon come to see that
it would be quite impossible for them to capture
the Diippel redoubts save by regular process of
sap and siege. The redoubts proved to be far
more formidable than they ever fancied ; and
it would have involved an enormous sacrifice
of life on the part of the Prussians to rush for
them at once. The pretty certain result of such
impetuosity would have been that not a soul
almost of the stormers would have lived to tell
the tale. For three whole years the Danes had
been at work on these redoubts, and what it
takes three years to construct cannot by any
possibility be captured in as many days. Much
had to be done by the Prussians, then, before
sitting down before the redoubts. If a simile may
be borrowed from the game of football, the " for-
wards " of the Danes had first to be disposed of.
For not only did they occupy the redoubts, but
likewise all the strong points in the country for
two or three miles in front of them, just as
modern ironclads hang out nets to guard their
hulls from the impact of torpedoes. In a similar
manner the Danes had thrown out a network of
men to fend off all hostile approach to their
forts and prevent the Prussians from settling
down near enough to them for the purposes of
sap and siege.

While, therefore, the Prussians were busy
bringing to the front their heavy guns and
other siege-material, others of them were set to
the work of sweeping clean, as with a broom of
bayonets, the open positions in front of the
redoubts held by their defenders. But this
sweeping process was by no means either an
easy or a bloodless task. For while the Danes
numbered 22,000 troops, the " Red Prince " in
front of them disposed at this time (though later
he was reinforced) of no more than 16,000 men,
and there was always the danger that the Danes,
assuming the offensive, would sally out of their

lines and seek to overwhelm their numerically
weaker foes. Consequently the Prussians had
recourse to the spade in order to supple-
ment the defensive power of their rifles, and
thus they first of all took up an entrenched
position running in a long semicircle from
Broacker on their right to Satrup on thcleft, at
a distance of about three miles or more from the
real object of their ambition — the line of Danish
redoubts.

Two positions in front of these redoubts — the
villages of Diippel and Rackcbiill — were fiercely
contested by the Danes ; but on the 17th of
March, after fighting in a manner which gave
their foes a very high opinion of their courage,
they retired behind their earthworks with the
loss of 676 men, while the Prussians, on their
part, had to pay for their victory by only 138
lives. This disparity in loss was doubtless due
to the fact that, while the Danes were only
armed with the old smooth-bore muzzle-loading
musket, the Prussians had adopted the new
Ziindnadclgcwclir, or needle-gun, the parent of
all modern breechloading and repeating rifles^
which gave them a tremendous advantage over
their opponents. In one of the preliminary
encounters above referred to, a party of Danes,
against whom a superior force of Prussian light-
infantry (Jiigcr) was advancing, threw down
their arms in token of submission ; but as the
Prussians came forward, they snatched them up
again, fired a volley, and rushed on with the
bayonet. The Prussians let them come to
within twenty -yards' distance, and then, raising
their deadly needle-guns, shot them down to a
man. The treacherous conduct of the Danes
above referred to caused great bitterness among
the Prussians ; but, even after death, the latter
showed their foes the respect which brave men
owe to one another, and in West Diippel they
raised a cross with this inscription : — " Here lie
twenty-five brave Danes, who died the hero's
death, 17th February, 1864."

The result of these preliminary tussles was
that the Danes attempted no more outfalls, and
from the 17th to the 28th of March one might
almost have concluded that an armistice had
been agreed to but for an occasional sputtering
and spitting of rifle-fire between the foreposts,
who thus employed their time when not ex-
changing other courtesies in the form of pipe-
lights, tobacco-pouches, and spirit-flasks. But
now the time was come when it behoved the
Prussians to get as close to the redoubts as
possible, for the purpose of opening their siege-

THE REDOUBTS OF DUPPEL.

n^tj

trenches, and General von Raven's Brigade was
selected to sweep the ground in front of the
Danish position of ail its outposts. It was an
early Easter this year, and just when the
preachers were proclaiming to their congrega-
tions that the season of peace and goodwill to
all men had now again come round, the Danes
and Prussians were fighting like fiends under
cover of the darkness.

The 1 8th Prussian Fusiliers had crept forward
as far nearly as the wire-fencing and palisades
in front of the redoubts, when the dawn sud-
denly revealed them to the Danes ; and just at
this moment, too, what should appear upon the
scene but the ubiquitous Rolf Krakc^ which, at
a distance of about
five hundred yards,
opened upon the ad-
vancing Prussians
such a shower of shell
and grape-shot as
forced them to retire,
causing these baffled
fusiliers to curse the
very name of the
ship-builder who had
ever laid the keel of
such a bold and
bothersome vessel.

At length, during
the night of the 30th
March, the Prussians

managed to open their first parallel at a
distance of about eight hundred paces from
the line of the redoubts, and now, so to
speak, they had reached the beginning of the
end. The men on duty in this parallel, or
shelter-trench (about eight feet deep), were re-
lieved at first every forty-eight hours, and then
every twenty-four, the former period having
been found to be too great a strain on the
soldiers, who, in consequence, had soon as many
as ten per cent, on the sick list. For nothing
could have been more trying to the constitution
than this trench-life, with its cold nights, and
rain, and mud, and manifold wretchedness.

Yet the Prussian soldiers, who were all very
young fellows — mere boys some of them — kept up
their spirits in the most wonderful manner, and
indulged in all kinds of fun — mountmg a gas-pipe
on a couple of cart-wheels, and thus drawing
the fire of the Danes, who imagined it to be a
cannon ; making sentries out of clay, and other-
wise indulging in the thousand-and-one humours
of a camp. They were also cheered by frequent

visits from their commander, the " Red Prince,"
who — although housed in most comfortable, not
to say luxurious, quarters at the Schloss, or
chateau, of Gravenstein, about six miles to the
rear — failed not to ride to the front every day
and acquaint himself with all that was going on.
With such a commander soldiers will do any-
thing, and hence the whole Prussian force in
front of the Danish redoubts began to burn with
a fighting ardour which neither cold, nor wet,
nor knee-deep mud could in the least degree
damp or depress.

On the other hand, the Danes, though better
off for shelter in their block-houses, wooden
barracks, and casemates, were not in such good

spirits. One of the
few things, appa-
rently, that cheered
their hearts was the
sight of the numerous
English tourists—
" T. G's," or " travel-
ling gents," as they
used to be called in the
Crimea, and Kricgs-
bummlcr^ or war-
loafers, as they are
dubbed in Germany
— who, arrayed in
suits of a most fearful
and wonderful make,
streamed over to the
Cimbrian Peninsula in quest of sensation and
adventure, exposing themselves on parapet and
sky-line to the shells of the Prussians with a
devil-me-care coolness which proved a source
of new inspiration to the Danskes.

Simultaneously with the pushing on of their
parallel work, the Prussians kept up a tremen-
dous fire on the forts, but the Danes showed
their good sense by lying quietly in their case-
mates and scarcely noticing the storm of
missiles directed against them. These missiles
did them and their earthworks very little harm,
and they were not to be terrified by mere noise.
Before the Prussians had settled down to their
trench-work, their batteries over the bay at
Gammelmark firing day and night had in the
course of a fortnight thrown about 7,500 shot
and shell into the Danish redoubts, yet not
more than seventy-five officers and men had
been killed or disabled by all this roaring
volcano of heavy guns ; and, indeed, it was
computed about this time that the Prussians
were purchasing the lives of their enemies at

22.S

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

about 500 cannon-shots per head. " The huge
earthen mounds or humps (of forts)," wrote a
correspondent, " might have marked the graves

PKINCE FREDERICK CHARLES.

of an extinct race, or been the result of some
gigantic mole's obscure toil," for all the signs of
life which the Prussian bombardment drew from
the redoubts.

One night a curious thing happened to a
company of the 60th Prussian regiment. In
the course of some skirmishing it got too far
forward, and, when day broke, it found itself in
a slight hollow of the ground so near to Forts
I and 2 that, had it tried to return to its own
lines, it must have been annihilated by the
grape-shot of the Danes. The shelter afforded
it by the nature of the ground was so trifling
that the men were forced to lie down flat upon
their bellies to avoid being shot. In this un-
pleasant position the}- lav the whole day, for the
Danes, strange to say, did not seek to sally out
and capture them ; and it was not till late in
the evening that the company, under cover of
the darkness, was able to rejoin their friends.
They had eaten nothing in the interval, for,
though they had provisions in their pockets, or
haversacks, the least movement they made to
get at this provender exposed them to the
enemy's fire.

The first parallel had been opened on the
30th of March, and the second was accomplished
in the night of the loth ol April. It was now

expected that the " Red Prince," without more
ado, would make a rush for the forts and be
done with them — the more so as there now
began to be whisperings of a political conference
of the Powers which might meet and baulk the
Prussian soldier of the final reward of all his
toil. But still Prince Frederick Charles gave
not the signal for the assault, and then it oozed
out that this delay was simply due to the com*
mand of his royal uncle, King (afterward
Kaiser) William, a very humane monarch, who,
wishing to .spare as much as possible the blood oi
his brave soldiers, had directed that still another
— a third — parallel should be made, so as to
shorten the distance across which the stormers
would have to rush before reaching the redoubts.
Meanwhile the Prussians prepared themselves
for the as.sault, among other things by getting
up sham works in imitation of those they had
to attack, where the battalions destined for the
purpose were practised in breaking down
palisades and using scaling-ladders, as well as
in disposing of chcvaux dc frise and other im-
pediments usual in the defence of " forts.
The Danish redoubts were known to the
Prussians as Nos. i, 2, 3, 4, 5,6, 7, 8, 9, and lo,
beginning from their — the Prussian — right on
the sea, and their foremost parallel fronted this
line of forts from i to 6. Against these forts
the Prussians had thrown up twenty-four
batteries mounting ninety-four guns, and now
at last these guns were to give voice in a chorus
such as had not rent the sk}- since the fall of
Sebastopol.

But just as every storm is preceded b}' a
strange delusive silence, so the day before the
assault on the Diippel redoubts — the 17th of
April — was a beautifully calm, sunny Sunday,
with earth and sky embracing in a common joy
over the birth of spring, and the encircling sea
smooth as glass — a lovely day, and the last but
one that man}- a brave man was doomed to see.
For the order had gone forth from Prince
Frederick Charles that at 10 o'clock precisely on
the following (Monday) morning the redoubts
should at last be stormed. At dawn of day the
whole line of Prussian batteries should open fire
on the forts, pouring upon them one continuous
cataract of shot and shell till 10 o'clock, when
the storming columns would start out of their
trenches and "go for" the redoubts with might
and main.

At 2 o'clock a.m. these columns — six in
number, drawn bv lot from the various brigades
so that all might have an impartial share

THE REDOUBTS OF DUPPEL.

229

in the honour of the day — emerged from
the Biiffell-Koppel wood well in the rear, and
silently marched in the darkness to the parallels.
Each of these six columns was thus com-
posed : — First of all a company of infantry with
orders to take extended front about 150 paces
from its particular redoubt, and open fire on
the besieged. Following these sharpshooters,
pioneers and engineers with spades, axes,
ladders, and all other storming gear, including
bags of blasting powder, and after them, at
100 paces distance, the storming calumn itself,
followed at 150 paces by a reserve of equal

aroused out of their sleep by such an infernal
outburst of cannon-thunder all along their front
as had never before, in lieu of the twittering and
chirping of birds, greeted the advent of a
beautiful day in spring. For six long mortal
hours did the Prussians continue this terrific
cannonade, of which the violence and intensity
may be inferred from the fact that during this
time no fewer than 11,500 shot and shell were
hurled at and into the Danish redoubts. The
material damage done to these redoubts was
less, perhaps, than the demoralisation thereby
caused to their defenders ; but the latter wa^

THE GERMAN SOLDIERS MAKING SENTRIES OUT OF CI.AY (/. 227J

Strength, together with a score of artillerists for
manning the captured guns of the Danes.

■ The Danes, in the darkness of the night,
knew nothing whatever of all these preparations,
and it was only when the first streaks of dawn
began to chequer the eastern sky that they were

the result which the Prussians, perhaps, aimed
at and valued most.

Shortly before ten the awful cannonade sud-
denly ceased, and was followed by a few minutes'
painful silence. During this brief interval the
field-preachers, who had given the Sacrament to

2^0

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

all the stormers the night before, now again
addressed to them a few fervid words of religious
encouragement, and then at the " N'tiu, Kinder,
in Gottcs Ndi/icn .' " (" Now, my children, away
with you in God's name I ") of their commanders,
the six storming columns, raising a loud and
simultaneous cheer, dashed out of their trenches
and across to their respective redoubts to the
stirring music of the Pi'eusscnlicd played by the
bands of three regiments — "/c/z bin ein Prcnssc ;
kcnnt Ihr vicinc Fdi'he?"' ("I am a Prussian :
know ye then mj' colours ? ")

For a few seconds the Danes seem to be taken
aback by this sudden onrush of their foes, and
then they recognise that this is no mere out-
post affair such as caused them some time before
to boast that they had repulsed a Prussian attack
all along their line. They look and compre-
hend ; and by the time their Prussian assailants
have half covered the distance between the
trenches and the forts, their parapets are fringed
with the smoke of sharp-crackling volleys of
musketry, for, strange to say, thev do not use
their guns and dose their assailants with destruc-
tive rounds of grape. The Prussians rush for-
ward, and many of them fall. Their pioneers
cut down the wires, hack and blow up the
palisades, tug, strain, and open up a passage for
the stormers, who swarm down into the ditch
and up the formidable face of the breastwork.

The Crown Prince, at the side of " Papa "
Wrangel, is looking on from the Gammelmark
height on the opposite side of the bav, while his
cousin, the " Red Prince," and his staff have taken
their stand on the Spitzberg, well to the rear of
the line of zigzags. The stormers swarm up
the breastworks like ants, and some of them fall
back upon the heads of their comrades mortally
struck by Danish bullets. At last they reach
the top of the parapets and see the whites of
their enemies' eyes, and a short but desperate
hand-to-hand encounter ensues. Many of the
Danes, seeing the foe thus upon them, throw
down their arms and surrender, but many will
not give in, and are shot or struck down with
bullet, ba\onet, and butt.

At Fort 2 the Prussians cannot force their
way through the palisades, and are consequently
slaughtered as they stand. " Better one of us
than ten ! " cries a pioneer, Klinke by name (for
a monument now stands to his memor\- on the
exact scene of his heroism), who rushes forward
with a bag of powder and blows at once the
palisades and his own person into atoms — sacri-
ficing himself to save his comrades, and thus

secure himself a golden register in the annals of
the Prussian army. The stormers now dash on
and up, and presently the black-and-white flag
of Prussia is seen waving on the parapets of the
redoubt. It sinks again, but is once more raised
to remain, and in less than a quarter of an hour
from the time that the stormers sprang out of
their trenches they are masters of six redoubts.
It was all done, so to speak, in the twinkling of
an eye — short, sharp, and decisive. From the
six redoubts thus so swiftly rushed, the Prussians
made a sweep to the rear of the others, and
captured them in much the same manner,
though one fort spared them the necessity of
fighting for it by surrendering.

As it was at Fort 2 where the highest act of
individual heroism had been performed on the
side of the Prussians by brave pioneer Klinke, so
it was also within this redoubt that Danish
courage found its most brilliant exponent in the
person of Lieutenant Anker. The Prussians
were quite aware that a man of more than usual
bravery was posted here, for they had admired
the stubborn valour with which the redoubt had
always been defended. And when at last they
had stormed their way behind its parapets, they
beheld the man himself whose acts had hitherto
moved their admiration. He had spiked some
of his guns, and was in the act of firing another
when a Prussian officer sprang upon him, and,
clapping a revolver to his breast, cried, " If you
fire, I fire ! " Anker hesitated, and finally
desisted. But just afterwards he took up a
lighted match and was making for the powder
magazine, when the Prussian officer cut him
over the head with his sword, only just in time
to prevent him from blowing up himself and
a considerable number of his foes. He was
then taken prisoner, and his lifelike figure may
now be seen on the fine bronze bas-relief of the
Storming of the Diippel Redoubts, which adorns
the Victory Column in Berlin.

The Danes had been defeated — not so much
because the Prussians were braver men, which
they were not, as because the latter were armed
with better guns and rifles, and more expert at
handling them ; but, above all things, because
they had taken their foes by surprise. For it
cannot be doubted that this was the fact. Said
a Danish officer who was taken prisoner :
" We waited all morning, thinking the assault
might still be given, although we had expected
that it would take place still sooner ; we waited
under the terrific cannonade kept up against us,
while hour after hour passed slowly awa3^ At

THE REDOUBTS OF DUPPEL.

231

last we said to ourselves that we must have been
misinformed, or that the Prussians had changed
their m.inds, and the reserves were withdrawn.
It was past nine o'clock when I left the forts and
went back to breakfast. While thus engaged, I
heard somebody utter an exclamation of dismay.
* What is that ? The Prussian flag floats over
Fort 4 ! ' And so it was — the forts were lost."

But there was still another and a better reason
for concluding that the Danes had not yet
awhile expected the Prussian assault, and that
was the circumstance that the Rolf Krakc, most
daring and deviceful of warships, did not im-
mediately appear upon the scene to pour its
volleys of shell and shrapnel into the flanks of
the storming columns. True, it was lying at the
entrance to the bay (Wenningbund), like an ever-
vigilant watch-dog ; but by the time it had got
its steam up and come to where it was most
wanted, the Prussians were already within the
Danish redoubts, and, after firing a few ineffec-
tual rounds, the monitor had to retire again
well battered with Prussian cannon-balls, but
by no means beaten yet like the battalions
which had held the forts.

Yet even these battalions, when beaten out of
the redoubts, continued to cling tenaciously to
the ground behind them, and once or twice they
even made a counter-attack with the object of
recovering their lost positions. But Prussian
ardour proved too much for Danish obstinacy ;
and at last the Danes in the country behind the
forts, after several hours' fighting, were all swept
back to the bridge-head in their rear, and then
over into the island of Alsen, leaving their foes
undisputed masters of all the field.

This latter phase of the fight was well described
by a correspondent with the Danes, who wrote :
— '' Diippel was lost, but the battle was by no
means at an end. Indeed, as we watched the
terrible cannonade from 12 at noon till 3 or
4 p.m., the violence of the fire seemed to
increase at every moment. An^•thing more
sublime than that sight and sound no effort
■of imagination can conjure up, and we stood
spellbound, entranced, rooted to the spot, in a
state that partook of wild excitement and
dumb amazement — a state of being which spread
equallv to the dull hinds, ploughmen, woodmen,
and the foresters, and their families of wives and
children, as they emerged from fields, woods, and
huts, and clustered in awestruck, dumbfounded
groups around us. The flashes of the heavy
artillery outsped the rapidity of the glance that
strove to watch them ; the reports were far

more frequent than the pulsations in our
arteries, and the reverberation of the thunder
throughout the vast spreading forest lengthened
out and perpetuated the roar with a solemn
cadence that was the grandest of all music to the
dullest ear. The air seemed all alive with these
angry shells. I have witnessed fearful thunder-
storms in my day in southern and in tropical
climates ; but here the crash and rattle of all
the tempests that ever were seemed to be
summed up in the tornado of an hour. Nor
was all that noise by any means deafening or
stunning. It came to us lingering far and wide
in the still air, softened and mellowed by the
vastness of space, every note blending admirably
and harmonising with the general concert — the
greatest treat that the most consummate pyro-
technic art could possibly contrive for the delight
of the eye and ear."

Many of the Danes surrendered, but many more
were taken prisoners ; and as they came along
the Prussian soldiers shook them good-naturedly
by the hand and tried to cheer them up. Few
of the men seemed to want cheering up, being
only too glad, apparently, to have escaped with
their lives, though their officers looked gloomy
enough over their defeat. The Prussians found
these captive Danes " sturdy fellows, but by no
means soldierly-looking," with their "rich sandy
hair reaching far below the nape of their necks."
And, to tell the truth, their victors, no less than
their admirers throughout Europe, expected that
they would have made a far more vigorous
defence ; for desperate a defence could scarcely
have been called which resulted in the capture
of their chief redoubts within the brief space of
about ten minutes.

The Prussians had won a glorious victory, but
a dear one ; for in dead they had lost 16 officers
and 213 men, and in wounded 54 officers and
1,118 men. Among the officers who were
uounded — mortally, as afterwards proved — was
the brave General von Raven, who, as he was
being borne to the rear, exclaimed : " It is high
time that a Prussian General should again show
how to die for his King." On the other side
General du Plat was also killed, while in dead
and wounded officers and men and prisoners the
Danish loss otherwise amounted to about 5,500.
Among the trophies of victory which fell into
the hands of the Prussians were 118 guns and
40 colours.

On being informed of all this. King
William telegraphed from Berlin — '' To Prince
Frederick Charles. Next to the Lord of Hosts.

232

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

I have to thank my splendid army under th}-
leadership for to-day's glorious victory. Pray
convey to the troops the expression of my highest
acknowledgment and m)- kingly thanks for
what they have done." On seeing that victory
was his, the " Red Prince " had bared his head and
muttered a prayer of thanksgiving to the Lord
of Hosts, while some massed bands played a kind

Prince Frederick Charles, his acknowledgment
of their bravery. Following hard on his telegram
his Majesty himself hurried to the seat of war,
with his '* blood-and-iron " Minister, Bismarck,
at his side, and passed in review the troops who
had so stoutly stormed the redoubts of the
Danes. These troops appeared on parade in the
dress and equipment they had worn on the day of

THE PRUSSIANS ATTACKING THE DANISH BREASTWORKS {p. 23O).

of Tc Dcum. " In the broad ditch to the rear
of Fort No. 4," wrote Dr. Russell, " the bands of
four regiments had established themselves, and
while the cannon were firing close behind them,
they played a chorale, or song of thanksgiving,
for the day's success. The effect was striking,
and the grouping of the troops and of the
musicians, with their smart uniforms and bright
instruments, standing in the deep trench against
the shell-battered earthwork, and by palisades
riven and shattered and shivered by shot, was
most picturesque.''

But King WilUam was not content with tele-
graphincr to his troops, through his nephew

their great feat, and in the course of their march
past jumped a broad drain to show his Majesty
hownimbly they had stormed in upon the Danes.
A fortnight later a select number of the Diippel
stormers escorted into Berlin the guns — more
than a hundred in number — which they had
captured from the Danes, and were received with
tremendous enthusiasm.

But this popular jubilation grew louder
still when a few weeks later the war was
ended altogether by the storming of the island
of Alsen, into which the Danes had retired
after their defeat at Diippel and entrenched
themselves down to the water's edge. In the

THE REDOUBTS OF DUPPEL.

^33

deep darkness of a summer night (June 2qth)
the Prussians, in i6o boats, crossed the channel — •
about eight hundred yards broad — between the
mainland and the island, though not without the
usual amount of harassing opposition from the
Rolf Krake^ and under a murderous fire jumped
ashore and made themselves master of the

position in a manner which made some observers
describe the affair as a mere " skirmish and a
scamper."

But all the same it was a feat which recalled
the '' Island of the Scots,'' as sung by Ayton,
and will always live in military history as a
splendid feat of arms.

LIEUTENANT ANKER TAKEN PRISONER (/>. 230).

234

LORD ROBERTS OF
CANDAHAR 6 WATERFORD

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THE Afghan War of 1878-79 was ter-
minated by the completion of what is
known as the "Treaty of Gundamuk,"
which was signed at that place in
Ala3% 1879, bv Yakoub Khan — who, on the flight
of his father, Shere Ali, had succeeded that ill-
starred potentate as Ameer of Afghanistan — and
by Major (afterwards Sir Louis) Cavagnari, re-
presenting Lord Lytton, the Viceroy of India.
This treaty gave practical — although, as it turned
out, only temporary — effect to the " scientific
frontier " of North-Western Lidia, on the
attainment of which the late Lord Beaconsfield,
when Prime Minister, greatly plumed him-
self. The " scientific frontier " detached from
Afghanistan and annexed to British India for
the time being a large tract of territory. The
Treaty of Gundamuk stipulated that a British
envoy should thenceforth be resident in the
Afghan capital ; and to the onerous and dan-
gerous post, at his own request, was assigned
the resolute and cool-headed officer to whose
wise and calm strength of will was mainly owing
the accomplishment of the treaty. Sir Louis
Cavagnari took with him to Cabul a subordinate
Civil Servant, a surgeon, and a small escort of
the famous " Guides," commanded by the
gallant Hamilton.

On the night of September 4th, 1879, a weary
trooper of the Guides — one of the few who had
escaped the slaughter — rode into a British out-
post on the Shutargurdan height, with the
startling tidings that Sir Louis Cavagnari, the
members of his mission and the soldiers of his
escort, had been massacred in the Balla Hissar
of Cabul on the 3rd. The news reached Simla
by telegraph on the morning of the 5th, and
next day Sir Frederick Roberts, accompanied b}'
Colonel Charles Macgregor, C.B., was speeding
with relentless haste to the Kurum valley, the

force remaining in which ft^om the previous cam-
paign was to constitute the nucleus of the little
army of invasion and retribution, to the command
of which Roberts was appointed. In less than a
month he had crossed the Shutargurdan, and
temporarily cutting loose from his base in the
Kurum valley, was marching swiftly on Cabul,
whence the Ameer Yakoub Khan had fled and
thrown himself on Roberts' protection.

All told, the army which Roberts led on Cabul
was the reverse of a mighty host. Its entire
strength was little greater than that of a Prussian
brigade on a war -footing. Its fate was in its own
hands, for, befall it what might, it could hope
for no timely reinforcement. It was a mere de-
tachment marching against a nation of fighting-
men plentifully supplied with artillery, no longer
shooting laboriously with jizails, but carrying
arms of precision equal or little inferior to those'
in the hands of our own soldiery. But the men
of Roberts' command, Europeans and Easterns,
hillmen of Scotland and hillmen of Nepaul,
plainmen of Hampshire and plainmen of the
Punjaub, strode along buoyant with confi-
dence and with health, believing in their
leader, in their discipline, in themselves. Of
varied race, no soldier who followed Roberts
but came of fighting stock ; ever blithely rejoic-
ing in the combat, one and all burned for the
strife now before them with more than wonted
ardour, because of the opportunity it promised
to exact vengeance for a deed of foul treachery.
Roberts' colunm of invasion consisted of a cavalry
brigade, commanded by Brigadier-General Dun-
ham Massy, and of two infantry brigades, the
first commanded by- Brigadier-General Macpher-
son, the second by Brigadier-General Baker, with
three batteries of artillery, a company of sappers
and miners, and two Gatling guns.

The soldiers had not long to wait for the first

ROBERTS' BATTLES ABOUT CABUL.

fight of the campaign. At dawn, of October 6th,
Baker marched out from Charasiah towards his
left front, against the heights held by an Afghan
host in great strength and regular formation.
Sweeping back the Afghan hordes with hard
fighting, Baker wheeled to his right, marched
along the lofty crest, rolling up and driving
before him the Afghan defence as he moved
towards the Sung-i-Nagusta gorge, which the
gallant Major White* had already entered. While
Baker had been turning the Afghan right, White
and his little force had been distinguishing them-
selves not a little. After an artillery preparation,
the detached hill covering the mouth of the pass
had been won as the result of a hand-to-hand
struggle. Later had fallen into the hands of
White's people all the Afghan guns, the heights
to the immediate right and left of the gorge had
been carried, the defenders driven away, and
the pass opened up. Artillery fire crushed the
defence of a strong fort commanding the road
through the pass. The Afghans were routed,
and on the following day the whole division
passed the defile and camped within sight of the
Balla Hissar, and the lofty mountain chain over-
hanging Cabul. In the fight of Charasiah less
than half of Roberts' force had been engaged,
and this mere brigade had routed the army of
Cabul and captured the whole of the artillery
the latter had brought into the field. Tne Afghan
loss was estimated at about three hundred ; the
British loss was twenty killed and sixty-seven
wounded.

On the qth the camp
the Siah Sung heights,
the Balla Hissar (the
Cabul), to dominate which a regiment was de-
tached ; and a cavalry regiment occupied the
Sherpur cantonment, the great magazine of
which had been blown up, and whence the
regiments which had been quartered in the
cantonment had fled.

It was a melancholv visit which Sir Frederick
Roberts made to the Balla Hissar on the nth.
Through the dirt and squalor of the lower
portion, he ascended the narrow lane leading to
the ruin which a few weeks earlier had been the
British Residency. The commander of the
avenging armv looked with sorrowful eyes on
the scene of heroism and slaughter, on the smoke-
blackened ruins, the blood-splashes on the white-
washed walls, the still smouldering debris, the
half-burned skulls and bones in the blood-dabbled
chamber where apparently the final struggle had
* Now Sir George White, Commander-in-Chief in India.

was moved forward to

a mile eastward from

palace and citadel of

been fought out. He stood in the breach in the
quarters of the staunch and faithful Guides, where
the gate had been blown in after the last of the
sorties made by the gallant Hamilton, and lin-
gered in the tattered wreck of poor Cavagnari's
drawing-room, its walls dinted with bullet-pits,
its floor and divans brutally defiled. Ne.\t day,
under the flagstaff from which waved the banner
of Britain, he held a durbar in the audience
chamber of the palace — in front and in flank
of him the pushing throng of obsequious sirdars,
arrayed in all the colours of the rainbow ; behind
them, standing immobile at attention, the guard
of British infantry, with fixed bayonets which
the soldiers longed to use.

Promptitude of advance on the part of the
force to which had been assigned the supporting
line of invasion by the Khyber-Jellalabad route
was of scarcely less moment than the rapidity of
the stroke which Roberts was commissioned to
deliver. But delay on delay marked the mobilisa-
tion and advance of the troops operating by the
Khyber line. There was no lack of earnestness
anywhere, but the barren hills and rugged passes
could furnish no supplies ; the country in rear
had to furnish everything, and there was nothing
at the base of operations, neither any accumula-
tion of supplies nor means to transport supplies
if they had been accumulated. Communications
were opened from Cabul with the Khyber force
and India, it was true, but no reinforcement
came to Roberts from that force until the nth
December, when there arrived the Guides, 900
strong, brought up by Jenkins from Jugdulluck
by forced marches. Five weeks earlier, when
the Kurum line of communication was closed
for the winter, Roberts had received the welcome
accession of a wing of the 9th Lancers, Money's
Sikh regiment, and four mountain guns : his
strength was thus increased to about 7,000 men.
For some weeks after Roberts' arrival at Cabul,
almost perfect quiet prevailed in and around the
Afghan capital, but the chief was well aware
how precarious and deceitful was the calm.
When the impending announcement of Yakoub
Khan's dethronement and deportation should
be made, Roberts knew the Afghan nature too
well to doubt that the tribal blood-feuds would
be soldered for the time, that Dooranee and
Baraksai would strike hands, that Afghan
regulars and Afghan irregulars would rally
under the same standards, and that the fierce
shouts of " Deen ! deen ! " would resound
on hill-top and in plain. He was read}' for
the strife, and would not hesitate to strike quick

2^6

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

and hard, for Roberts knew the value of a resolute
and vigorous offensive in dealing with Afghans.
But it behoved him, above all things, to make
timely choice of his winter-quarters where he
should collect his supplies and house his troops
and their followers. After careful deliberation

Charasiah. The northern contingent from the
Kohistan and Kohdaman was to occupy the
Asmai heights north-west of the city, while the
troops from the Maidan and Warduk territory
away to the south-westward of the capital, led
by Mahomed Jan in person, should come in by

THE BRITISH RESIDENCY AFTER THE ATTACK.

the Sherpur cantonment, a mile outside of
Cabul, was selected. It was overlarge for easy
defence, but hard work, skilled engineering, and
steadfast courage would remedy that evil. And
Sherpur had a great advantage in that, besides
being in a measure a readv-made defensive posi-
tion, it had shelter for all the troops and would
accommodate also the horses of the cavalry, the
transport animals, and all the needful supplies
and stores.

The deportation to India of Yakoub Khan
and his three principal ministers was the signal
for a general rising. The Peter the Hermit of
Afghanistan in 1879 ^^'^^ ^^e old Mushk-i-Alum,
the fanatic chief moulla (or priest) of Ghuznee,
who went to and fro among the tribes pro-
claiming the sacred duty of a religious war
against the unbelieving invaders. The com-
bination of fighting tribes found a competent
leader in Mahomed Jan, a Warduk general of
proved courage and capacity. The plan of cam-
paign was comprehensive and well devised. A
contingent from the Logur country south of
Cabul was to seize the Sher Darwaza heights,
stretching southward from Cabul tou^ard

Urgundeh across the Chardeh Valley, take pos-
session of Cabul, and rally to their banners the
disaffected population of the city and the sur-
rounding villages. The concentration of the
three bodies effected, Cabul and the ridge against
which it leans occupied, the next step was to
be the investment of the Sherpur cantonment,
preparatory to an assault in force upon that
stronghold.

The British general, through his spies, had
information of those projects. To allow the
projected concentration would be fraught with
mischief, and both experience and temperament
enjoined in Roberts a prompt initiative. He
resolved, in the first instance, to deal with
Mahomed Jan's force, which was reckoned some
5,000 strong ; the other contingents might be
disregarded for the moment. On the 8th of
December Baker marched out with a force con-
sisting of qoo infantry, two and a half squadrons,
and four guns, with instructions to break up the
tribal assemblage in the Logur valley, march
thence south-westward, and take a position
across the Ghuznee road in the Maidan valley,
on the line of retreat which it was hoped that

ROBERTS' BATTLES ABOUT CABUL.

237

Macpherson would succeed in enforcing on
Mahomed Jan. Macpherson was to move west-
ward with 1,300 bayonets, three squadrons, and
eight guns, across the Chardeh valley to Ur-
gurdeh, where it was expected that he would
find Mahomed Jan's levies, which he was to
attack and drive southward to Maidan upon
Baker. Should this combination come off, the
Afghan leader would find himself, it was hoped,
between the upper and the lower millstone, and
would be punished so severely as to hinder him
from giving further trouble.

It happened, however, as Macpherson was
about starting on the 9th, that a cavalry recon-

the previously arranged combined movement
and bringing about a very critical situation.
After a sharp fight Macpherson routed the
Kohistanees, and halted on the ground for the
night. In the hope that the combination might
still be effected, he was ordered to march south-
west toward Urgundeh.on the morning of the
I ith, where it was hoped he would find Mahomed
Jan and drive him towards Baker. Macpherson
had left his cavalry and wheeled guns at Aushar
on the eastern edge of the Chardeh valley ; and
he was informed that they would leave that place
at q a.m. of the same day, under the command
of Brigadier-General Massy, and move across

HK HELD A DUKUAR " (/. 235).

naissance found the Kohistanee levies in con-
siderable strength about Karez Meer, some ten
miles north-west of Cabul. It was imperative
promptly to disperse them, and Macpherson, on
the loth, had to alter his line of advance and
move against the Kohistanees, a divergence from
the original plan which had the effect of wrecking

the valley in the direction of Urgundeh, where
Macpherson, it was expected, would re-unite
himself with them. Massy's orders were to
proceed cautiously to join Macpherson, but " on
no account to commit himself to an action until
the latter had engaged the enemy."

Macpherson marched from Karez Meer at

2^8

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

eight a.m. of the nth. Massy left Aushar an
hour later, and went across country instead of
keeping to the road. His force consisted of two
squadrons 9th Lancers, a troop of Bengal Lancers,
and four horse artillery guns. Near Killa Kazee
his advance guard sent back word that the hills.
in front were occupied by the enemy in consider-
able force. Massy halted when he saw some 2,000
Afghans forming across the road, and from the
hills to right and left broad streams of armed
men pouring down the slopes and massing in the
plain. The surprise was complete, the situation
full of perplexity. There was no Macpherson
within ken of Massy. If he retired, he probably
would be rushed. If, on the other hand, he
should show a bold front, and, departing from
his orders in the urgent crisis face to face with
which he found himself, should strain every
nerve to "hold" the Afghan masses in their
present position, there was the possibility that
he might save the situation and give time for
Macpherson to come up. Massy, for better or
for worse, committed himself to the offensive,
and opened fire on the Afghan masses. But
they were not daunted, and the guns had
again and again to be retired. The outlook was
ominous when Roberts arrived on the scene.
He acted promptly, as was his wont, directing
Massy to retire till he found an opportunity to
charge ; he sent General Hills back to Sherpur
to warn its garrison to be on the alert, and to
order the despatch at speed of a wing of the
72nd Highlanders to the village of Deh Mazung
in the throat of the gorge of the Cabul river,
which the Highlanders were to hold to extremity.
The moment seemed to have come for the
action of the cavalry. Colonel Cleland led his
lancers straight for the centre of the Afghan
line. Captain Gough, away on the Afghan left,
eagerly "conformed," crushing in on the enemy's
flank at the head of his troop. There have been
few forlorner hopes than the errand on which,
on this ill-starred day, over 200 troopers rode into
the heart of 10,000 Afghans flushed with un-
wonted good fortune. Through the dust-cloud
of the charge were visible the flashes ot the
Afghan volleys and the sheen of the British
lance-heads as they came down to the " engage."
There was a short interval of suspense, the din
of the melee faintly heard, but invisible behind
the bank of smoke and dust. Then from out
the obscurity of the battle riderless horses came
galloping back, followed slowly by broken groups
of dismounted troopers. Gallantly led home,
the charge had failed. What other could have

been the result ? Sixteen troopers had been
slain, seven were wounded ; two brave }'oung
officers lay dead where they fell. Cleland came
out with a sword cut and a bullet wound, which
latter gave him his death a few months later.
The Afghans pressed on. A gun had to be
spiked and abandoned, its officer. Lieutenant
Hardy, remaining by it until killed ; three
other guns stuck fast in a watercourse. All four
were gallantly recovered by Colonel Macgregor
the same afternoon by a most skilful and daring
effort, which only he would have ventured upon.
The retreat was stubborn and orderly ; but there
was an anxious interval at Deh Mazung until
the Highlanders came through the gorge at the
double ; when, after a short interval of firing,
the Afghans climbed the slopes of the Sher
Derwasa heights, and occupied the summit of
the Tahkt-i-Shah. Macpherson, marching in,
struck and broke the Afghan rear. On the 12th,
Baker fought his steadfast way back to Sherpur.
The casualties of the nth were not light — thirty
men killed and forty-four wounded. The Afghans
were naturally elated by the success they had
achieved, and it was clear that Mahomed Jan
had a quick eye for opportunities and some skill
in handling men.

From the Sher Derwasa heights Macpherson,
with barely 600 men, attempted, on the morning
of the 1 2th, to carry the rocky summit of the
Tahkt-i-Shah, but after a prolonged and bitter
struggle it had to be recognised that the direct
attack by so weak a force, unaided by a diver-
sion, could not succeed. Macpherson remained
on the ground he had actually won, informed
that on the following morning he was to expect
Baker's co-operation fi'om the south. The
casualties of the abortive attempt included three
officers, one of whom — Major C^ok, V.C., of the
Goorkhas, than whom the British army con-
tained no better soldier — died of his wounds.

The lesson of the result of attempting impos-
sibilities had been taken to heart, and the force
which Baker led out on the morning of the 13th
was exceptionally strong, consisting as it did of
the q2nd Highlanders and the Guides infantry,
a wing of the 3rd Sikhs, a cavalry regiment, and
eight guns. Marching in the direction of the
lateral spur stretching out from the main ridge
eastward towards Beni Hissar, Baker observed
that large masses of the enemy were quitting
the plain villages in which they had been
spending the winter night, and were hurrying
upward to gain and hold the summit of the
spur, which constituted the main defensive

ROBERTS' BATTLES ABOUT CABUL.

239

position of the Afghan reserve. His oppor-
tunity flashed upon the ready-witted Baker.
By gaining the centre of the spur he would cut
in two the Afghan mass, holding its continuous
summit, and so isolate and neutralise the portion
of that mass in position from the centre of the
spur to its eastern extremity. To eflFect this
stroke it was, however, necessary that he should
act with promptitude and energy. His guns
opened a hot fire on the Afghan bodies holding
the crest of the spur. His Sikhs, extended
athwart the plain, protected his right flank ; his
cavalry on the left cut into the groups of Afghans
hastening to ascend the eastern extremity of the
spur. With noble emulation the Highlanders
and the Guides sprang up the rugged slope,
their faces set towards the centre of the summit
line. Major White, who had already earned
many laurels in the campaign, led on the 92nd ;
the Guides, burning to make the most of their
first opportunity to distinguish themselves,
followed eagerly the gallant Jenkins, the chief
who had so often led them to victory on other
fields. Lieutenant Forbes, a young officer of
the 92nd, heading the advance of his regiment,
reached the summit accompanied only by his
colour-sergeant. A band of Ghazees rushed on
the pair, and the sergeant fell dead. As Forbes
stood covering the body, he was overpowered
and slain. The sudden and bloody catastrophe
staggered for a moment the soldiers following
their officer, but Lieutenant Dick Cunyngham
rallied them immediately and led them forward
at speed. For his conduct on this occasion
Cunyngham worthily received the Victoria
Cross.

With rolling volleys the Highlanders and the
Guides reached and won the rocky summit.
The Afghans momentarily defended the posi-
tion, but the British fire swept them away, and
the bayonets disposed of the Ghazees, who fought
and died under their standards. The severance
of the Afghan line was now complete. A
detachment was left to maintain the isolation of
some 2, coo of the enemy who had been cut off ;
and then swinging to their right with a cheer
Baker's regiments swept along the spur towards
the main ridge and the Takht-i-Shah. As they
rushed forward they rolled up the Afghan line,
and the enemy fled in panic flight. Assailed
from' both sides, for Macpherson's men were
climbing the north side of the peak, and shaken
by the fire of the mountain guns, the garrison
of the Takht-i-Shah evacuated the position.
Baker's soldiers toiled vigorously upward towards

the peak, keen for the honour of winning it ;
but that honour justly fell to their comrades of
Macpherson's command, who had striven so
valiantly to earn it on the previous afternoon,
and who had gained possession of the peak and
the standards left flying on its summit a few
minutes in advance of the arrival of White's
Highlanders and Jenkins' Guides. As the mid-
day gun was fired in the Sherpur cantonment,
the flash of the heliograph from the peak told
that the Takht-i-Shah was won.

While the fight was proceeding on the moun-
tain summits, another was being fought on the
Siah Sung upland springing out of the plain,
within artillery range of Sherpur. On this
elevation had gathered masses of Afghans from
the turbulent city and from the villages about
Beni Hissar, with intent to hinder Baker's return
march. The Sherpur guns shelled them, but
they held their ground, and the cavalry galloped
out from the cantonment to disperse them.
The Afghans showed unwonted resolution ; but
the British horsemen were not to be denied.
Captains Butson and Chisholme led their
squadrons against the Afghan flanks, and the
troopers of the 9th Lancers swept their fierce
way through and through the hostile masses.
But in the charge Butson was killed, and Chis-
holme and Trower were wounded ; the sergeant-
major and three men were killed, and seven men
were wounded. Brilliant charges were delivered
by the other cavalry detachments, and the Siah
Sung heights were ultimately cleared. The
Guides' cavalry attacked, defeated, and pursued
for a long distance a body of Kohi.-^tanees
marching north apparently with intent to join
Mahomed Jan. The casualties of the day were
sixteen killed and forty-five wounded — not a
heavy loss, considering the amount of hard
righting. The Afghans were estimated to have
lost in killed alone from 200 to 300 men.

The operations of the 13th were successful so
far as they went, but the actual results attained
scarcely warranted the belief that the Afghans
had suffered so severely that they would now
break up their combination and disperse to their
homes. The General, indeed, was under the
belief that the enemy had been " foiled in their
western and southern operations." But the
morning of the 14th eff'ectually dispelled the
optimistic anticipations indulged in overnight.
At daybreak large bodies of Afghans, with many
standards, were discerned on a hill about a mile
northward of the Asmai heights, from which
hill and from the Kohistan road they were

240

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

moving on to the Asmai crest. They were
presently joined there by several thousands
climbing the steep slopes rising from the village
of Deh Afghan, the northern suburb of Cabul.
It was estimated that about 8,000 men were in
position on the Asmai heights, and occupying
also a low conical hill beyond their north-western
termination. The array of Afghans displayed
itself within a mile of the west face of the Sherpur
cantonment, and formed a menace that could not
be brooked. To General Baker was entrusted
the task of dislodging the enemy from the
threatening position, with a force consisting of

up to the Afghan breastworks, on the northern
edge of the summit. The British shrapnel fire
had driven many of its defenders to seek shelter
down in Deh Afghan ; but the Ghazees in the
breastworks fought desperately, and died under
their standards as the Highlanders carried the
defences with a rush. The crest — about a quarter
of a mile long — was traversed under heavy fire,
and the southern breastwork on the Asmai peak
was approached. It was strong, and strongly
held ; but a cross-fire was brought to bear on its
garrison, and then the frontal attack, led gal-
lantly by Corporal Sellar of the 72nd, was

^ :s;»^-?«->

about 1,200 bavonets, eight guns, and a regi-
ment of native cavalrv. Baker's first object was
to gain possession of the conical hill already
mentioned, and thus debar the Afghan bodies
on the Asmai heights from receiving accessions
either from the hill further north or bv the
Kohistan road. Under cover of the artillery
fire, the Highlanders and Guides occupied the
conical hill after a short conflict. A detachment
of all arms was left to hold it, and Colonel
Jenkins, who commanded the attack, set about
the arduous task of storming from the northward
the formidable position of the Asmai heights.
The assault was led b}- Brownlow's brave High-
landers of the 72nd, supported on their right by
the Guides operating on the enemy's flank, and
the Afghan position was heavily shelled from
the plain and the cantonment.

In the face of a heavy fire the Highlanders
and Guides climbed the rugged hillside leadiner

delivered. After a hand-to-hand grapple, in
which Highlanders and Guides were freely cut
and slashed by the Ghazees, the position, which
was full of dead, was carried, but with consider-
able loss. The Afghans streamed down from the
heights, torn as they descended by shell-fire and
musketry - fire : when they took refuge in Deh
Afghan that place was heavily shelled. The
whole summit of the Asmai heights was now in
British possession, and it seemed for the moment
that a decisive victory had been won.

But scarcely had Jenkins found himself in full
possession of the Asmai position, when the for-
tune of the da}' was suddenly overcast. A great
host of Afghans, estimated to number from 15,000
to 20,000, had debouched from the direction of
Indiki into the Chardeh valley, and was moving
swiftly northward with the apparent object of
forming a junction with the masses occupying
the hills to the north-west of the Asmai heights.

I ! ■ I llai j i i B jiuw

■ COLONEL CLELAND LED HIS LAN'CERS " (^. -j3).

242

BATTLES OF THE XIXETEEXTK CENTURY

Cavalry scouts galloping from the Gliardch valley
brought in the tidings that large bodies of hostile
infantry and cavalry were hurrying across the
valle\- in the direction of the conical hill, which
was being held bv Lieutenant-Colonel Clark, with
only 1 20 Highlanders and Guides. Baker, re-
cognising Clark's weakness, reinforced that officer
with four mountain guns and 100 bayonets — a
reinforcement which proved inadequate. The
guns, indeed, opened fire on the Afghan bodies
crossing the valley and drove them out of range ;
but these bodies coalesced dexterously with the
host advancing from Indiki, and then the great
Afghan mass, sud-
denly facing to the
right, ritruck the
whole range of the
British position,
stretching from near
the Cabul gorge on
the south to and be-
)-ond the conical hill
on the north. The
most vulnerable point
was about that emi-
nence. Baker sent
Clark a second re-
inforcement, and 200
Sikhs doubled out
from Sherpur to
further strengthen
him. But the Af-
ghans, swarming up
from out the Char-
deh valley, had the
shorter distance to

travel, and were beforehand with the hurry-
ing reinforcements. As the Afghan front and
flank attacks developed themselves, they en-
countered from the garrison of the conical
hill a heavy rifle fire, and shells at short range
tore through the loose rush of Ghazees ;
but the bhang- maddened fanatics sped on
and up without wavering. As they gathered
behind a mound for the final onslaught, Captain
Spens with a handful of his Highlanders,
charged out on the forlorn hope of dis-
lodging them. A rush was made on the gallant
Scot ; he was overpowered and slaughtered after
a desperate resistance, and the charge of the
infuriated Ghazees swept up the hillside. In
momentary panic the defenders yielded the
ground, carrj-ing downhill with them the rein-
forcement of Punjaubees which Captain Hall
was bringing up. Two of the mountain guns

were lost, but there was a rally at the foot of the
hill, vmder cover of which the other two were
extricated. The Afghans refrained from descend-
ing into the plain, and directed their efforts
towards cutting off the British troops still in
position on the Asmai heights.

It was estimated that the Afghan strength
disclosed this day did not fall far short of 40,000
men ; and General Roberts, reluctantly com-
pelled to abandon for the time anv further
offensive efforts, determined to withdraw the
troops from all isolated positions and to con-
centrate his whole force within the protection

of the Sherpur can-
tonment. The orders
issued to Baker and
Macpherson, gradu-
ally to retire into
the cantonment, were
executed with skill
and steadiness. Mac-
pherson cooll\-
marched through
Deh Afghan, his
baggage sent on in
front under a guard.
Jenkins' evacuation
of the Asmai position
w a s conspicuously-
adroit. Baker held
a covering position
until all the other
details had steadily
made good their
retirement, and he
was the last to with-
draw. Bv dusk the whole British force was
safely concentrated within the cantonment, and
the period of the defensive had begun. The
casualties of the day were serious — 35 killed
and 107 wounded. During the week of fighting
the little force had lost altogether, in officers
and men, 83 killed and 192 wounded.

Although overlarge for its garrison, the
Sherpur cantonment possessed many of the
features of a strong defensive position. On the
southern and western faces the massive and con-
tinuous enceinte made it impregnable against any
force unprovided with siege artillery ; but on
the eastern face the incomplete wall was low,
and the northern line of defence on the Behmaroo
heights was defective until strengthened by a
series of blockhouses supporting a continuous
entrenchment studded with batteries. The
space between the north-western bastion and the

ROBERTS' BATTLES ABOUT CABUL.

243

heights was closed by an entrenchment supported
bv a laager of Afghan gun-carriages and limbers;
the open space on the north-eastern angle was
similarly fortified ; the unfinished eastern wall
was heightened by built-up tiers of logs, and its
front, as elsewhere, was covered with abattis
wire entanglements, and other obstacles. The
enceinte was divided into sections, to each of
which was assigned a commanding officer with a
specified detail of troops ; and a strong brigade
of European infantry was under the command
of Brigadier-General Baker, read}' at short notice
to reinforce any threatened point. Before the
enemy cut the telegraph wire, in the early
morning of the 15th, Sir Frederick Roberts had
informed the authorities in India of his situation
and need for reinforcement.

During the 15th and i6th the Afghan troops
were busily engaged in sacking the Hindoo and
Kuzzilbash quarters of Cabul, in looting and
wrecking the houses of chiefs and townsfolk who
had shown friendliness to the British, and in
fiercely quarrelling among themselves over the
spoil. On the 17th and i8th they made sundry
ostentatious demonstrations against Sherpur, but
these were never formidable. Although they
made themselves troublesome with some per-
severance during the daytime, they consistently
refrained from night-attacks, to which ordinarily
the Afghan hillmen are much addicted. There
never was any investment of Sherpur, nor indeed
any approximation to an inv'estment. The
Afghan offensive was not dangerous, but annoy-
ing and wearisome. It was pushed, it was true,
with some resohition on the i8th, when several
thousand men poured out of the city, and skir-
mished forward under a cover of the gardens and
enclosures on the plain between Cabul and the
cantonment. Some of the more adventurous
were able to get within four hundred paces from
the enceinte, but could make no further head-
way, although they long maintained a brisk fire.
The return fire was chiefly restricted to volleys
directed on those few of the enemy who oflfered
a sure mark by exposing themselves ; and shell-
fire was chiefly used to drive the Afghan
skirmishers from their cover in the gardens and
enclosures. On the morning of the iQth it was
found that in the night they had occupied
the Meer Akhor fort, a few hundred yards in
front of the eastern face of the enceinte. Baker
went out on the errand of destroying it, with
880 bayonets, two guns, and a party of sappers.
In the approach through the mist, a sudden
volley struck d-own several men, and Lieutenant

Montenaro, of the mounted battery, was mor-
tally wounded. The fort was heavily shelled, its
garrison was driven out, and it was blown up.

For the moment circumstances had enforced
on Roberts the wisdom of accepting the defensive
attitude, but he nevertheless knew himself the
virtual master of the situation. He had but one
anxiety — the apprehension lest the Afghans
should not harden their hearts to deliver a real
assault on his position. That apprehension was
not long to give him concern. On the 20th the
enemy took strong possession of the Mahomed
Shereeff fort on the southern face of Sherpur ;
and they maintained themselves there during
the two following days against the fire of siege
guns mounted on the bastions of the enceinte.
On the 2 1st and 22nd large numbers of Afghans
quitted the city, and passing eastward behind
the Siah Sung heights, took possession in great
force of the forts and villages outside the eastern
face of Sherpur, which should have been destroyed
previously. On the afternoon of the 22nd a
spy brought in the intelligence that Mahomed
Jan and his brother chief had resolved to assault
the cantonment early on the following morning.
His tidings were true ; and the spy was even
able to communicate the details of the plan of
attack. The 2,000 men who were holding the
King's Garden and the Mahomed Shereeff post
had been equipped with scaling-ladders, and were
to make a false attack, which might become a
real one, against the western section of the
front. The principal assault, however, was to
be made against the eastern face of the Behmaroo
village, unquestionably the weakest part of the
defensive position. The 23rd was the last day
of the Mohurrum — the great Mahomedan
religious festival — when fanaticism would be at
its height ; and further to stimulate that incen-
tive to valour, the Mushk-i-Alum was his holy
self to kindle the beacon fire on the Asmai
height which would be the signal to the faithful
to rush, to the attack.

The information proved perfectly accurate.
All night long the shouts and chants of the
Afghans filled the air. Purposeful silence reigned
throughout the cantonment. In the darkness
the soldiers mustered and quietly fell into their
places. The ofiicers commanding sections of the
defence made their dispositions. The reserves
were silently standing to their arms. Every eye
was toward the Asmai height, shrouded still in
the gloom of the night. A long tongue of flame
shot up into the air, blazed brilliantly for a few
moments, and then waned. At the signal a

244

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

fierce fire opened from before one of the gateways
of the southern face, the flashes indicating that
the marksmen were plying their rifles within two
hundred yards of the enceinte. The bullets sped
harmlessly over the defenders sheltered behind
the parapet, and in the dusk of the dawn re-
prisals were not attempted. But this outburst
of powder-burning against the southern face was
a mere incident. What men listened for and
watched for was the development of the true

our thin line of men. Led by Ghazees, the main
body of Afghans, who had been hidden in the
villages and orchards on the east side of Sherpur,
rushed out in one dense horde, and every throat
was filling the air with shouts of " AUah-il-
Allah ! '' The roar surged forward as the line
advanced, but it was answered by such a roll of
musketry that it was drowned for the moment,
and then merged into the general turmoil of
sound that told our men with Martinis and

NORTH END OF SHERI'UR ENTRENCHMENTS,
CABUL.

assault on the eastern end of the great parallelo-
gram. The section-commanders there were
General Hugh Gough, in charge of the eastern
end of the Behmaroo heights, and Colonel
Jenkins from the village down past the native
hospitals to the bastion at the south-eastern
corner. The defending troops were the Guides
from Behmaroo to the hospital, in which were
lOO Punjaubees ; and beyond to the bastion the
67th reinforced by two companies of the q2nd.
From beyond Behmaroo and the eastern trenches
and walls as day broke, there came a roar of
voices so loud and menacing that it seemed as if
an army 50,000 strong was charging down on

Sniders were holding their
own against the assailants.

When the first attack
was made the morning was
so dark and misty that the
outlook from the trenches
was restricted, and the order to the troops
was to hold their fire until the enemy should
be distinctly visible. The Punjaubee detach-
ment in the hospital opened fire prematurely,
and presently the Guides, holding Behmaroo
and the trenches on the slopes, followed the
example, and sweeping with their fire the
terrain in front of them broke the force of the
attack when its leaders were still several hundred
yards away. Between the hospital and the
corner bastion, the men of the 67th and 92nd
awaited with impassive discipline the word of
permission to begin firing. From out the mist
at length emerged dense masses of men, ^ome ot
whom were brandishing swords and knives,
while others loaded and fired when hurrying
forward. The order to fire was not given until
the leading Ghazees were within eighty yards,

ROBERTS' BATTLES ABOUT CABUL.

245

and the mass of assailants nof more than two
hundred. Heavily struck by volley on voile}',
the}' recoiled, but soon gathered courage to come
on again ; and for several hours there was sharp
fighting, repeated efforts being made to carry
the low eastern wall. So resolute were the

determined to take them in flank, and with
this intention sent out into the open through the
Behmaroo gorge four field-guns escorted by a
cavalry regiment. Bending to the right, the guns
came into action on the Afghan right flank, and
the counter-stroke had an immediate effect. The

"the roar surged forward" (/^. 243).

Afghans that more than once they reached the
abattis, but each time they were driven back
with heavy loss. About ten o'clock there was a
lull, and it seemed that the attacking force was
owning the frustration of its attempts ; but an
hour later there was a partial recrudescence of
the fighting, and the assailants once more came
on. The attack, however, was not pushed with
much vigour, and was soon beaten down,
but the Afghans still maintained a threatening
attitude, and the fire from the defences was in-
effectual to dislodge them. The General then

enemy wavered, and soon were in full retreat.
The Kohistanee contingent, some 5,000 strong,
cut loose and marched away northward with
obvious recognition that the game was up. The
fugitives were scourged with artillery and rifle
fire ; and Massy led out the cavalry, swept the
plain, and drove the lingering Afghans from the
slopes of Siah Sung. The false attacks on the
southern face from the King's Garden and the
Mahomed Shereef fort never made any head.
Those positions were steadily shelled until
late in the afternoon, when they were finally

246

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

evacuated, and by nightfall all the villages and
enclosures between Sherpur and Cabul were
entirely deserted. Some of these had been de-
stroyed by sappers from the garrison during the
afternoon, in the course of which operation two
gallant Engineer officers, Captain Dundas and
Lieutenant Nugent, were unfortunately killed
by the premature explosion of a mine.

Mahomed Jan had been as good as his word :
he had delivered his stroke against Sherpur ;
and that stroke had utterly failed. With its
failure came promptly the collapse of the national
rising. Before daybreak of the 24th the formid-
able combination, which had included all the
fighting elements of North-Eastern Afghanistan,
and under whose banners it was believed that
more than 100,000 armed men had mustered,
was no more. Not only had it broken up — -it
had disappeared. Neither in the city itself nor
in the adjacent villages, nor on the surrounding
heights, was a tribesman to be seen. So hurried
had been the Afghan dispersal that the dead
were left to lie unburied where they had fallen.
His nine days on the defensive had cost Sir
Frederick Roberts singularly little in casualties :
his losses were eighteen killed and sixty-eight
wounded. The enemy's loss in killed and
wounded, from first to last of the rising, was
reckoned to be not under 3,000.

On the 24th the cavalry rode far and fast in
pursuit of the fugitives, but the}' overtook none.

such haste had the fleeing Afghans made. On
the same day Cabul and the Balla Hissar were
reoccupied, and General Hills resumed his func-
tions as military governor of the city, rice the
old moulla Mushk-i-Alum, departed precipitately
to regions unknown. Cabul had the aspect ot
having undergone a siege at the hands of an
enemy ; the bazaars were broken up and de-
serted. After making a few examples, the
General issued a proclamation of amnesty, ex-
cluding therefrom only five of the principal
leaders and fomenters of the rece<"it rising. This
policy of conciliation bore good fruit ; and a
durbar was held on January qth, 1880, at which
were present about 300 sirdars, chiefs, and head-
men from the various provinces. Although the
country remained disturbed, there were no more
outbreaks. Cabul and Sherpur were strongly
fortified, military roads were made, and all cover
and obstructions for the space of 1,000 yards
outside the enceinte of Sherpur were swept
away. In March the Cabul force had increased
to a strength of about 11,500 men and twenty-
six guns ; and General Roberts formed it into two
divisions, one of which he himself conmianded,
the other being commanded by Major-General
John Ross.

On 2nd May, Sir Donald Stewart arrived at
Cabul from Candahar, and took over from Sir
Frederick Roberts the command in North-
Eastern Afghanistan.

SIR FREDERICK ROBERTS IN iSJj.

[Pr.oto., Lock &' Whitfielii. Rtgtnt St..: W-

WHEN Nicholas Nickleby suggested
to Mr. Vincent Crummies that
the " terrific broadsword combat "
on his stage would look better if
the two adversaries were more of a size, the
veteran manager replied that the remark showed
how little he knew about the business. What
the public really liked to see was the little fellow
getting the better of the big one. And Mr.
Crummies Avas right. Most men have a '' weak-
ness for the weaker side," and if there is one
thing they like better to see than a fair and
even fight, it is the spectacle of a victory won by
skill and pluck against superior strength. Such
was the victory that splendid old soldier the
Archduke Albert of Austria won at Custozza
during the brief campaign of Northern Italy
in 1866.

As it happened, it was — so far as tangible
results were concerned — a barren success. The
prize that was fought for was the possession of
Venice and its territory ; and by the course of
events this went to Italy at the close of the war,
notwithstanding her defeats by land and sea.
But for all that, Custozza and Lissa were a solid
gain to Austria, for they enabled her to yield
to fate without losing heart and hope for the
future. Broken as her power was on the wider
field of the struggle with Prussia, she could yet
trust to sailors of the stamp of Tegethoff,
soldiers like the Archduke Albert, to secure for
her the respect even of the victors, and to
ensure that before long she would again be a
factor to be reckoned with in the councils of
Europe.

The Archduke Albert was the son of a famous
soldier, the Archduke Charles, who was one of
the most formidable opponents of the Great
Napoleon, and who by the victory of Aspern
brought him within sight of ruin many years
before Waterloo was fought and won. The

Archduke Albert had distinguished himself in
the campaigns of Italy in 1848 and 1840, taking
part in more than one hard-fought action on
the very ground which he held in 1866. When,
in that year, Italy began to prepare to take the
field against Austria as the ally of Prussia, the
Government at Vienna concentrated the bulk of
its forces on the northern frontiers of the empire
to meet the more formidable attack that was
threatened from Berlin, and the Archduke
was left to hold Venetia against the Italians
with very inferior forces. It was this marked
inferiority that gave special interest to his
successful campaign against the great armies
that were marshalled against him.

At the end of the month of May the Italians
had concentrated a main army of 140,000 men
in Lombardy, and a second force of about 60,000
between Ferrara and Bologna in the Romagna.
The army in Lombardy was commanded nomin-
ally by the King, Victor Emmanuel ; really by
his chief of the staff, the veteran General La
^Marmora, the same who had commanded the
Sardinian contingent in the Crimea. The army
was divided into three corps under Durando,
Cucchiari, and Delia Rocca. The King's eldest
son. Prince Humbert, then Crown Prince and
now King of Italy, commanded a division
in Delia Rocca's corps. His brother. Prince
Amadeo, afterwards King of Spain, commanded
a brigade of Grenadiers in the first corps. This
army was destined to cross the little river
Mincio, which formed the boundary between
Lombardy and Venetia, thus attacking the
Austrians in front ; while the second army of
bo,ooo men under Cialdini would be in a
position to cross the lower course of the Po,
and fall upon their flank. On the left of the
royal army Garibaldi was assembling a third
force of between 30,000 and 40,000 men, with
which he was to invade the Tyrol.

24S

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

To meet these three armies — amounting in
all to at least 235,000 men — the Archduke
Albert had nominally at his disposal a force
of 135,000. Thus, he had a majority of 100,000
against him at the very outset, but even this
does not represent the whole deficiency. First
he had to detach 12,000 men for the defence
of the Tyrol. These were expected to be able
to deal with Garibaldi's 30,000 or 40,000
volunteers ; 12,000 more were assigned to the
defence of Istria and the neighbourhood of
Trieste and Pola, where, considering the
strength of Italy on the sea, there was supposed

^'^o be some danger of a naval descent ; 40,000
T^ere employed in the garrisons of the Quadri-
lateral (Mantua, Verona, Peschiera and Leg-
nago) and in the fortresses of Rovigo and
Venice ; finally 6,000 had to be left to guard
his communications with Austria. This reduced
the field army to a little over 60,000 men, and
with these he had to meet the 200,000 of Italy.

The Italians had divided their forces, and the
Archduke saw that his best chance of success
would lie in an attempt to deal with one of
their armies before the other could come to
its assistance. In order to do this it would
be necessary from the verj' outset to conceal
his own position and movements, and be fully
informed of those of his opponents. Therefore,
concentrating his army in a central position
behind the Adige, a little to the east of Verona,
a point from which he could move either against

the King or against Cialdini, he left only a screen
of cavalry outposts along the Mincio, between
Peschiera and Mantua, and along the north
bank of the Po, opposite Ferrara. Once war
was declared they allowed no one to pass the
frontier in either direction, and even before that
only those few privileged persons who had
obtained a special passport from the Austrian
military authorities were allowed to cross.

The cavalry scouts and vedettes did their
work to perfection. They prevented the Italiansi
from obtaining any information as to the plani.
or movements of the Archduke, and they kept
him well informed as to all
that was going on upon
the Lombard shore of the
Mincio. The Archduke
had in the last few days
before the declaration of
war made up his mind to
attack the King's army. If
Victor Emmanuel crossed
the Mincio he would fall
upon him on the ground
between that river and the
Adige ; or if the Italians
remained in Lombard}- he
intended himself to cross
the Mincio, trusting to be
able to defeat them, and
then return in time to deal
with Cialdini. In both
cases he would have the
advantage of being able to
make one or other of the
four fortresses of the Quad-
rilateral the base of his attack. On June 20th
he received notice that war had been declared.
On the same day he had reports from his
cavalry outposts to the effect that both the
Italian armies were preparing to advance. From
the westward the King's army was closing in
upon various points on the Mincio, and to the
southward Cialdini was collecting material to
construct bridges across the Po at Franco-
linetto, and had actually occupied an island
in the middle of the wide stream at that point.
The Archduke remained quiet near Verona for
nearly two days longer. His plan was to lull
his enemy into a false sense of securit}', and
then strike swiftly and sharply. All the bridges
on the Mincio were left standing, and the
screen of cavalry posts received orders not tu
oppose the Italians seriously at any point when
they tried to cross. When the invaders entered

CUSTOZZA.

249

Venetia the Austrian horsemen were to fall back
before them, to do as little fighting as possible,
but never to lose sight of them.

On Thursday, June 22nd, the royal army of
Italy was concentrated on the right or Lombard
bank of the Mincio. At Monzambano the en-
gineers were at work constructing bridges. At
Valeggio and Goito the cavalry of De Sonnaz
was ready to seize the existing bridges as soon as

Italians very slow and cautious in their advance.
It was the afternoon before he retired from
Villafranca, and behind the little country town
he made a stand with his horsemen and a
battery of artillery ; and though he again
retreated after a short skirmish, the result was.
that the Italian cavalr}^ of De Sonnaz did not
push their explorations any further that dav.
They reported to the royal headquarters that

A- E R o N A .

the word was given to advance. In the grey of
the early morning of Friday they crossed the
river at both points. The Austrian cavalry,
under Colonel Pulz, fell back without firing a
shot. Avoiding the hills that lie northward
towards the Garda lake, Pulz retired across the
level ground of the plain of Villafranca. The
w plain is thickly populated. There are numerous
villages and hamlets, and plenty of roads, foot-
paths, and tracks ; but it is difficult country to
manoeuvre in, for everywhere the ground is
cut up with small watercourses and irrigation
channels — hedgerows, orchards, and plantations
restrict the view. Along the course of the
streams are swampy rice-fields, and on every
stretch of sloping ground there are thickly-
planted vineyards. Pulz was able to make the

the Austrians had no force between the Adige
and the Mincio beyond a couple of regiments ot
cavalry and a battery of horse artillery ; and
this confirmed La Marmora in his idea that the
Archduke would be compelled by his inferior
numbers to remain on the defensive near
Verona.

All day the Italian army had been pouring
across the bridges of the Mincio, and advancing
by the hot, sandy roads — the right into the plain
of Villafranca, the left towards the low hills that
border it on the northward, stretching from the
lake of Garda to Custozza and Somma Cam-
pagna. General La Marmora was confident of
victory. He was occupying the very ground
where the allied armies of France and Italy had
stayed their onward march in 1859. He was

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

going to take up the work of conOjUest where
Napoleon III. had left off, and he hoped to
complete it by entering Venice as a victor.
North and south and away to his front lay
the famed fortresses of the Quadrilateral, the
keys of Northern Italy ; but their garrisons
were cowering behind the ramparts, and doing
nothing to disturb his movements.

On the Saturday night about half the Italian
army was across the river, and the rest was
close up to the bridges, readj,' to follow' in the
morning. The troops were to be moving by
3.30 a.m., and La Marmora had issued orders for
an advance upon V'erona. The right was to
move by the plain of Villafranca to the hills
round Somma Campagna ; the left was to
enter the hill country, more directly marching
from ^Monzambano and Valeggio on Castel-
nuovo and Sona. The object of the movement
was to occupy t-he mass of hills to the south-east
of the lake of Garda, cut off Peschiera from
Verona, and threaten the positions held by the
Archduke near that fortress.

On the Sunday morning the Italians were
under arms at half-past three, and soon after
their columns were on the move. The men had
no breakfast before starting, bevond a piece of
bread or a biscuit taken from the haversack and
eaten as the}- waited for the order to march off.
It was intended to halt later on for breakfast,
but the Italian staff was anxious to get the
march over as earlv as possible, as it was
expected that it would be a verv hot day. So
sure were they that the enemv would not be
encountered in force that no cavalry were sent
out to scout in front. In front of each column
there was an advance guard ; but so badly was
the march arranged, and so loosely was the
connection between the advance guards and
those that followed them kept up, that the
vanguard of Sirtori's division, consisting of
some 2,500 men with six guns, took the wrong
road, and got in front of the vanguard of
Cerale's division ; while, b}- a blunder of the
leading portion of Cerale's column, his main
body wandered on to the road assigned to
General Sirtori. Thus there was the singular
spectacle of two advance guards following each
other on one road, while their main bodies
calmly marched in long procession along another.

The start had been made shortlv before four
o'clock. The march had proceeded for a little
more than an hour, and five had just struck
from the village bell towers, when General La
Marmora, who was riding with centre, was

surprised at hearing far away to the right, in
the direction of Villafranca, the roar of guns
in action. The two divisions of the Italian
third corps, commanded by the Crown Prince
Humbert and bv General Bixio, had been at-
tacked bv Austrian cavalry and horse aniller\.
The Italians behaved well. The infantry formed
into squares, and beat off three cavalry charges ;
the artillery galloped up, unlimbered, and drove
away the Austrian guns with a few well-aimed
shells. By six o'clock the fight was over, and
the enemy was in retreat. La Marmora had
ridden towards the firing, and when he received
the report of what had happened, he at once
made up his mind that the affair was of very
little importance. He felt sure that the Austrian
force consisted only of Pulz's regiments, the
same which had been watching the river two
davs before, and had retired through Villafranca
when the Italians advanced on the Saturdav.

The divisions of his first corps on the left had
now entered the hilly countrv, and at half-past
six, a good half-hour after the last shot had
been fired at Villafranca, there was a still more
startling incident on the left. Sirtori was march-
ing his division across the deep little valley
through which the Tione flows, and the leading
regiment was ascending the slope beyond its left
bank. Sirtori himself rode near the head of the
column. Suddenly a volley was fired at the
leading ranks by riflemen lying in ambush
among the trees and enclosures of a farmstead
at the top of the slope. Sirtori, pulling up his
horse, looked through his field-glasses at the
wreaths of smoke that hung in the still, clear
morning air ; but so well hidden were the rifle-
men that he could not make out their uniforms.
Nevertheless, he felt so sure that the Austrians
were not in front of him, and he so little
suspected that his vanguard was on another
road, that he told those near him that the
ambushed foes must be their own comrades of
the vanguard firing on them by mistake, and he
sent two of his officers galloping forward to stop
the fire. They came careering back down the
slope to tell him that they had narrowly escaped
being killed or captured by a regiment of Aus-
trian Jagers, and the next minute the sight of
guns unlimbering on the ridge told the startled
Italian general that he had come upon a hostile
army in battle array. A minute more and the
deep voice of the first gun told even La
Marmora that he had made a terrible mistake,
and that the Austrians were in action on his
left as well as his right.

CUSTOZZA.

2^1

What had happened ? The ItaHan columns
working their way into the hills — one by this
road, another by that, with no connection
between them, with no concerted plan of action,
and, what was worse, with the men fasting and
unprepared for a long day's battle, were one by
one coming into collision with the army drawn
up to receive them under the cover of the first
ridges of the hills. Late on the Friday the
Archduke had learned of the Italian advance,
and had given orders for the crossing of the
Adige, near Verona. On the Saturdav, while
the Italians believed he was still inactive behind
the river, he had got his whole army across it,
and he bivouacked for the night within striking
distance of the royal army, in which no one,
from the King to the youngest soldier, had an
idea that 60,000 foes were so close in their front.
Considering how densely peopled the whole
district is, it is a marvel that none of the
inhabitants warned the Italians of their danger.
If any of them made an effort to pass the
Austrian outposts, the attempt was a failure.
At midnight the Archduke received a telegram
from General Scudier, who commanded on the
lower Po. It informed him that Cialdini's van-
guard was crossing the river, and the Austrians
were slowly retiring before his advance. But
this made no change in the arrangements for
next day. The Archduke still counted on smash-
ing up the King's army before the two Italian
armies could get near enough to help each
other. He believed the King's plan would be
to march direct through the plain of Villafranca
to the Adige ; and his own orders for next da}'
were that the various corps were to face south-
ward and westward, moving from their camps at
2 a.m., gaining the hills, and then sweeping
round, so as to descend on the flank of the
Italian advance. Although he had not com-
pletelv divined the plans of the Italians, his
own plans were so sound that they met even their
altered arrangements. Instead of falling on their
flank, he struck the heads of their ill-connected
columns as they strove to gain the hills. His
own march had begun at 2 o'clock, in the dark-
ness of a midsummer night. There was soon
enough light to move rapidly and surely. At
five the sound of guns engaged in the brief
action at Villafranca led the Austrians for awhile
to believe that the main Italian advance was in
the plain ; but their scouts soon brought them
news of the real direction in which the enemy
was moving, and when the Italians entered the
hills the}' blundered into a fight for which they

were not prepared, while the Austrians met
them with a well-organised battle line, every
unit in which \\-orked well with those to the
right and left of it, and proved once more that
even enormous numbers count for less than
discipline and union under one strong will
directed by a clear and well-trained mind.

So far as the Italians were concerned, Cus-
tozza was a series of detached fights ; for the
Austrian commander it was a tremendous
struggle, of which he controlled and co-
ordinated all the parts.

Let us return to the fight at the point where
it began on the Italian left. As soon as Sirtori
found that he had an Austrian force to deal
with, he got his division into line on the very
unfavourable ground on which its leading batta-
lion stood when the first shots were fired, and
made repeated efforts to drive the enemy from
the farm and the ridges round Pernisa. Soon
he heard firing away to the left and right. The
battle was becoming general. To the left, about
a mile and a half away, his advanced guard,
under General Villahermosa, had come upon
the Austrian reserve division holding the slopes
of Monte Cricol, a bold ridge over which the
Valeggio road runs about two miles to the south
of Castelnuovo. The fight here had a very
important effect on the fortunes of the day.
Villahermosa, believing that he had the whole
of Sirtori's division close behind him, resolved
to clear the way for it by driving the Austrians
from the hill, and sent forward his riflemen —
the famous Bersaglieri — whose ordinary march-
ing pace is a smart run. They made a gallant
dash at the Monte Cricol, but the attack was a
failure. Outnumbered and over-weighted, the
Italian riflemen fell back, and then the Aus-
trians came charging down the hill after them,
and began to drive Villahermosa and his van-
guard along the Valeggio road. More than an
hour had passed in this fight in front of Monte
Cricol, when again the tide was turned by the
arrival of the leading troops of General Cerale's
division, which had marched towards the firing.
The division consisted of some 12,000 men, with
eighteen guns. First came General Villarev, a
Savoyard soldier, with two battalions of Bersag-
lieri as the vanguard. Then came the rest of
Villarey's brigade — eight battalions — and behind
it the guns and a brigade of eight more bat-
talions under General Dho. As Cerale brought
his division into action he saw not only the
victorious Austrians in front, but other white-
coated columns moving on the hills to his right,

2^2

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

beyond the Tione. These were part of the corps
that was attacking his colleague Sirtori, but
they brought their guns to bear even upon the
Valeggio road, so that Cerale had to turn some
of his own artillery upon them. His main force
he threw against the Austrians in front, in order
to rescue \''illahermosa, and for the moment
superior force was on the side of the Italians.
The)' cleared the road, captured two guns,
and, pushing boldly on, got to the crest of the
Monte Cricol, and also turned the enemy out of

ARCHDUKE ALBERT.

Mongabia on the right of the road. It looked
as if here, on the extreme western edge of the
battle, the Italians were winning.

But now came an incident which shows how,
even in modern war with tens of thousands in
the field, a handful of brave men can change the
whole aspect of a battle. Across the Tione, to
the right of this portion of the fight, there was
a regiment of Austrian cavalry, known as the
Sicilian Uhlans (lancers, who had formerly had
the King of the Two Sicilies for their honorary
colonel). Colonel de Berres, who commanded the
lancers, had been watching through his field-
glass the fight for the Monte Cricol, and seeing
that the Austrian brigade, which was now re-
tiring before the Italians, was hard pressed, he
thought he could help his friends by a sudden

charge on Cerale's flank. One Italian brigade
was in line of battle driving in the Austrians ;
the other was in a long marching column on the
road. Berres called up one of his captains —
Bechtoldsheim — and ordered him to take three
troops and attack the enemy on the road. The
three troops numbered exactl}' 103 officers and
men. The brigade of General Dho was at least
5,000 strong, but the hundred without a moment's
hesitation trotted off to charge the 5,000. They
descended the slope to the Tione, found a ford,
got across, and quietly made their way up the
hill to the right of the Italians. These seem not
to have had the least warning of the coming
attack. They were moving slowly forward in
column when the handful of splendid horsemen
came rushing doAvn the hill like a hurricane.
Generals Cerale and Dho, with their staff", were
riding at the head of the column. The Uhlans,
falling on the flank of the foremost regiment,
crashed through it with levelled lances, and then
rode for the crowd of officers, and scattered
them right and left. The two generals escaped
with difficulty. Cerale was hit by a revolver
bullet in the mclec^ and Dho received three
lance wounds. Two guns which were on the
road just behind the staff were galloped back to
the rear by their teams, and battalion after
battalion broke and ran as the lancers dashed
down the road cheering and striking right and
left with their lances, the retiring guns being
now the main object of their charge. At last
the frightened gunners cut the traces, and the
guns were overturned in the press. But, with
the exception of one battalion, Dho's division
was now a panic-stricken mob. On both sides
of the road the valle}^ was full of men Avho had
thrown away their arms and were running for
their lives. Two thousand of them did not stop
till they had put the bridges of Monzambano
and Valeggio between them and the enemy.
And yet that enemy consisted only of a handful
of lancers. If one company had stood its ground
and fired one stead}- volley the charge would
have been stopped. When the lancers at last
pulled bridle and turned to ride back they had
not lost a score of their small number. Captain
Bechtoldsheim, their brave leader, had had his
horse killed under him, but close by an Italian
major had just been run through with a lance,
and Bechtoldsheim caught the horse of his fallen
foe and again put himself at the head of his
men. But as they rode back they found the one
Italian battalion that had kept together had
lined the ditches on both sides of the only

CUSTOZZA.

253

possible track. The lancers had to . gallop
through a sheet of flame from the hostile rifles,
and the road was strewn with men and horses.
When Bechtoldsheim regained the hill there
were only sixteen of his brave Uhlans beside

had just witnessed the charge ot the lancers.
The Italians tried more than once to make a
stand, but they were driven from position after
position, and their commander, Villarey, was
shot dead while forming the 30th Regiment for

THE CHARGE OF THE AUSTRIAN LANCERS (/. 252)

him. They had left two officers, eighty-four
men, and seventy-nine horses in the valley, killed
and wounded; but they had done their work, and
their charge had decided the fortune of the day.
Villarey's brigade was now all that was left
of Cerale's division. The Austrians had been
reinforced, and they promptly attacked and
retook the Monte Cricol, and drove the Italians
down the hill and along the same valley which

a counter-attack on the victors. After his fall
there was nothing but wild confusion on the
Italian left. Here and there, however, handfuls
of brave men acted in a way that did something
to redeem the honour of the Italian arms. A
little group of ten officers and thirty men of the
44th Regiment, finding that they were aban-
doned by their panic-stricken comrades, threw
themselves into a farmhouse, taking the flag of

254

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

the regiment with them. They held it for two
hours against the Austrians, and only surren-
dered it when the building was set on fire.
But their flag was not captured. They had cut
it into fortv pieces, and each of them took a
piece. When thev came back from Austria after
the war the pieces were sewn together, and the
flag was restored to the regiment.

The village of Oliosi, between the Valeggio
road and the Tione, was held by the Italians,
and aff"orded some protection to their retreat
from the disastrous fight before the Monte
Cricol. It was
stormed by a column
of two Austrian
regiments under
General Piret, which
crossed the river,
and cleared the vil-
lage without much
difliiculty. In one
house — the presby-
tery, near the vil-
lage church — the
Italians held out
for nearly two hours.
When the house
was all but demo-
lished the little gar-
rison surrendered,
and five officers
and forty-nine men
were made prisoners.

What was left of
Cerale's division, together with part of Sirtori's
vanguard, now rallied on the bold ridge of
Monte Vento. To their left General Pianelli's
division, which had just crossed the Mincio, was
coming up from the bridges of Monzambano,
bringing some 12,000 fresh men to support
them. The Austrians were pushing in between
the hill and the river ; and one of their rifle
regiments advancing over-boldly, was surrounded
by Pianelli's troops, and the 700 Jagers were all
either shot down or captured. The reserve of
the Italian ist corps, consisting chiefly of Ber-
saglieri, was also directed upon Monte Vento.
On the possession of this ridge the safety
of the whole army depended, for if the
Austrians took it they would be in a position
to cut off" the Italians from the bridges over
the Mincio.

So far the fight on the left had gone b}- ten
o'clock. On the rest of the field it was the same.
Everywhere the Italians had come into action

piecemeal against solid masses of Austrians, and
in every one of the detached fights that was in
progress from left to right they were being
pushed back. In the Tione valley Sirtori had
failed to carry the ridge near Pernisa. He had
himself been routed and driven across the river
bv the advancing Austrians, and had lost three
guns. He had rallied his men and crossed the
stream a second time, only to be a second time
driven back. Still further to the right among
the hills towards Custozza Brignone's division
had come to grief. The Italians had fought

well and lost heavily,
Prince Amadeo and
General Gozzani
both falling severely
wounded at the head
of their brigades.
About ten. La Mar-
mora was so alarmed
b}- the reports that
reached him from
every side that he
told the King he
thought it was a
lost battle, and was
on the point of
giving the order to
retire to the bridges
when an encourag-
ing message from
Durando, who was
bringing the re-

BATTLEraU)

CUSTOZZA.

English Miles

serves into action
on the left, led him to change his mind, and
continue the fight. Having made at the outset
such a terrible mistake as to the position of the
Austrians, he seemed all da}- to be e.xpecting
some new surprise and disaster ; and though
really there were only Pulz's cavalry in the
plain to his extreme right, he was so an.xious
about a possible attack in that direction that he
kept Bixio and Prince Humbert's division
inactive all day at Villafranca. They had not
fired a shot since the short skirmish with the
cavaln,- in the early morning, and all through
the blazing heat of the day the men sat or lay
stretched in the shadows of the trees, listening
to the roar of the fight in the hills, while their
officers impatiently waited for orders to move.
The only order the}- got was a message that all
was lost, and the moment had come to retreat.
But this was some hours later. By eleven
o'clock the Austrians had disposed of Sirtori's
division, and crossing the river after his retreating

CUSTOZZA.

2c;

battalions, the}- stormed the strong position
of Santa Lucia, thus almost interposing between
the Italian left and right. Artillery was massed
against Monte Vento, and further westward a
column of attack moved forward to attempt to
seize the bridges on the Mincio at Monzambano.
On the right the two fresh divisions of Cugia
and Govone strengthened the Italian line, and
delayed for a while the advance of the Austrians,
whose object in this quarter was the capture of
the village of Custozza, which stands on a bold
hill overlooking the plain of Villafranca.

The loss of Santa Lucia made it ver)- difficult
for the Italians to hold on to Monte Vento.
General Durando was actually discussing the
question of retiring when he was shot down, and
General Chilini, who had assumed the command
in his stead, abandoned the position as soon as
the Austrians advanced upon it. This made
the defeat of the whole Italian army inevitable,
for the Austrians could now advance and seize
the ground between Monte Vento and the
Mincio, the very ground over which the Italian
army must retire if it was to withdraw to its
own territory, and across which it would have to
keep up its communications with Lombardy,
even if it could maintain itself in Venetia.

On the right the Italians had been driven
back upon Custozza. It was near four o'clock.
The Austrians had every available man and
every gun in action. Their men were weary
with the night march and the long fight among
the hills under the blazing midsummer sun,
which shone in a cloudless sk}-. But it was
worse for the Italians. Most of them had eaten
nothing all day, and they had none of the
inspiration of success. They had been losing
ground all da}-, and the}- had lost all confidence
in their chiefs and in themselves. Yet they had
still forty thousand men who either had not
fired a shot or had not been seriously engaged.
These were the two divisions at Villafranca
(Bixio's and the Crown Prince's) and the two
reserve divisions of Cucchiari's corps, which were
struggling along roads so encumbered with
a confused mass of baggage and ammunition
waggons that it was only when all was over that
they approached the field. It would be difficult
to find more striking proof of the hopeless
incapacity of La Marmora and his staffi

At five o'clock the village and hill of Custozza

were stormed with a fierce rush by the columns
on the Austrian left. The hills were now com-
pletely in the possession of the Archduke. He
had driven the last of the Italians on to the low
ground, and everywhere they were retiring
towards the river, thousands having already
streamed across the bridges in a confused and
disorderly march. The Austrians were so ex-
hausted with their nineteen hours of marching
and fighting that there was no pursuit. If the
Archduke had had a few thousand fresh troops
he might have captured whole masses of the
fugitives, who were huddled together along the
Mincio, waiting to cross. Next day the Austrian
cavalry pushed into Lombardy, and such was
the impression made on the Italian army by the
collapse of Custozza that La Marmora made no
effort to stop them, but retired first behind the
Chiese and then behind the Oglio, abandoning a
considerable part of Lombardy. Meanwhile, the
Archduke had marched from the scene of his
victory back to the Adige, in order to be able to
fall on Cialdini if he persisted in his invasion of
Venetia. But the lesson of Custozza was enough
to make the second Italian army withdraw into
the Romagna.

The Austrians lost in the battle 960 killed,
3,6qo wounded, and some hundreds of prisoners,
chiefly the Jagers captured by Pianelli's division.
The Italian loss in killed and wounded was not
quite so heavy, the killed being 720 and the
wounded 3,112, but they lost in prisoners and
missing 4,315 officers and men. On the Italian
side General Villarey was killed, and Generals
Dho, Durando, Gozzani, and Prince Amadoe
were wounded. But a mere comparison of
losses can give no idea of the effect of the battle
on the two armies. The Austrian army was for
all practical purposes intact, full of confidence in
itself and in its leader. A great part of the
Italian army had degenerated into something
like an armed mob, all confidence in the
generals was gone, and, instead of talking of
a march upon Venice, men were asking them-
selves if they could hold Northern Italy against
an Austrian invasion. Custozza had given one
more proof of the fact that victory is not always
with the big battalions, and that a skilful leader
can bring to nought the onset of less ably handled
troops, though they outnumber his own by tens
of thousands.

ON the 1 6th of March, 1812, when the
poplar trees that fringed the Guadiana
were bending under a tempest of wind
and rain, a British force some 15,000
strong, with a battering train of fifty-two guns,
reached Badajoz — a strongly-fortified Spanish
town near the frontier of Portugal — the bugles
of the "qfth" playing "St. Patrick's Day" as
they faced the furious equinoctial gale.

About a year before, the scoundrel Imas had
delivered up the place to Marshal Soult, whose
clubfoot did not prevent his being one of the
most active men and fearless riders in the
French service ; and although we had made two
attempts to retake it, we had failed on each
occasion after heavy losses, our battering train
being shamefully insufficient, and the enemy
very much on the alert ; the third time we were
successful, and it is of this I am about to tell.

Badajoz was the pax aiigiista of the Romans,
and a granite bridge with twenty-eight arches,
dating from Roman times, still spanned the
sluggish river on the north-west ; but, save
that the town had been frequently taken and
retaken by Moors, Goths^ and Spaniards, and
was the birthplace of Morales, the painter, there
was nothing very remarkable about its quaint,
crooked streets and massive cathedral beyond
the natural strength of its position, rising some
300 feet above the marshy plain, with eight
bastions and their connecting curtains to protect
it from attack.

It remained for Philippon and his gallant
garrison, and our veteran troops under the Earl
of Wellington — as he was then st3'led — to render
E-adajoz immortal, and bring a flush of pride
and a thrill of horror to future generations
who may read the tale.

The General of Brigade Philippon, colonel of
the 8th of the French Line, and member of the
Legion of Honour, commanded in Badajoz with

a force of 4,742 men — composed partly of
the 9th Light Infantry, the 88th Regiment, the
Hesse-Darmstadt, some dragoons and chasseurs,
artillery, engineers, and invalids, and seventy-
seven Spaniards who ought to have been fighting
on the other side.

Although somewhat short of powder and
shell, Badajoz presented a formidable task to a
besieging armv, being protected on one side
by the river, 500 yards wide in places, and
having several outworks, or forts, notably one
called the Picurina, on a hill to the south-east,
whose defenders could be reinforced along a
covered-way leading to the San Roque lunette
close to the town walls.

Philippon had, moreover, taken every means
possible to strengthen his post : mines were laid,
the arch of a bridge built up to form a large
inundation, ravelins constructed and ramparts
repaired, ditches cut and filled with water, and
that he should have no useless mouths to fight
for, the inhabitants were ordered to lay up three
months' provisions or march out there and then.

Such was Badajoz when Picton's 3rd, or
"Fighting," Division ; Lowry Cole's 4th — or, as
they were nicknamed at the close of the war,
" Enthusiastic" — Division ; and the Light, known
as " The " Division, invested it in the rain.

The rest of the army watched Soult's move-
ments closely, and prepared to oppose the relief
of the town if that should be attempted, and the
5th Divioion was on its way from Beira to assist
the siege.

As soon as darkness had fallen on the night of
the 17th, 2,000 men moved silently forward to
guard our trenching parties, and, with mattock
and shovel, we began to break ground, 160 yards
from the Picurina, the sentinels on the ramparts
hearing nothing, as the howling of the wind
drowned the sound of digging, and the sputter-
ing rain fell incessantly into the works. So well

THE TAKING OF BADAJOZ.

257

had the volunteers from the 3rd Division
laboured, for we had no regular sappers, that the
light of the misty March morning revealed 4,000
feet of communication, and a parallel 600 yards
long, on perceiving which the garrison opened a
tremendous fire of cannon and musketry. The
deafening roar of the heavy guns and the crack
of rifles and smooth-bores continued with little
cessation for many days, increasing as we finished
battery after battery and brought them to bear
upon the doonied town.

The condition of our siege artillery would
hardly be credited were it not borne out by the
unanimous published statements of credible
witnesses.

Of the fifty-two pieces, some dated from the

a little body of horsemen jingling out, foHowed
by 1,300 infantry, who concealed themselves in
the covered trench connecting San Roque with
the Picurina.

The cavalr}' pretended to skirmi-h, and, divid-
ing into two parties, one pursued the oilier
towards our lines, where they were challenged,
and allowed to pass, on replying in Portuguese.

There was some excuse for the conduct of our
pickets, as the French dragoons, in consequence
of the difficulty of procuring new uniform.s from
France, were allowed to use the brown cloth so
general all over the Peninsula, and were thus
easily miscaken for our Portuguese allies, some
of whom also dressed in brown. But we were
soon undeceived, for the troopers dashed at the

days of Philip II. and the Spanish Armada ;
others were cast in the reigns of Philip III.
and also John IV. of Portugal, who reigned
in 1640 ; we had 24-pounders of George II. 's
day, and Russian naval guns ; the bulk of the
extraordinary medley being obsolete brass engines
which required seven to ten minutes to cool
between each discharge, lest the overheating
should cause the muzzles to drop.

The ammunition was little better, and an
engineer officer tells us that his 18-pound shot
was of three distinct sizes, which had to be
sorted out and painted difterent colours, while it
was often possible to put a finger between the
ball and the top of the gun, when the former
was placed ready for ramming. Yet, with this
miserable materiel we were expected to fight
the most intelligent army in Europe !

Wellington learned from his spies that the
garrison were to make a sally on the 19th, and
at I o'clock the Talavera Gate suddenly opened,

engineers' park, cut down some men, and
galloped off" with several hundreds of the en-
trenching tools, for which Philippon had offered
a large reward.

Simultaneously the infantry sprang out of the
covered-way with a part of the Picurina garrison,
and, rushing forward, began to destroy our works.

We drove them back almost to the walls of
Badajoz, killing thirty and wounding 287. But
we lost heavily, for it was a sharp encounter ; and,
unhappily, our chief engineer, Colonel Fletcher,
was badly hit, a buUet striking a silver dollar in
his fob and forcing it an inch into the groin,
confining him to his tent until the -latter end
of the siege, the Earl going each morning to
consult about the day's operations.

Our movements were by no means faultless,
Wellington having great difficulties to contend
with in many directions ; in fact, during t'he
whole of the Peninsular War he may be said to
have fought the French with one hand, an3

2:;8

BATTLES O^ THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

Spanish pride, obstinacy, and selfishness with the
other — fortunate indeed in possessing a genius
which was ever at its best the more trying the
emergenc}-. We stationed a cavalry regiment
to prevent any further surprises, and continued
our digging, the pitiless rain slanting unceasingly
oji the trench guards in their grey overcoats
and oilskin shakoe-covers, while the working-
parties shovelled and measured, and piled up long
ridges of earth, standing ankle-deep in the water
which filled the saps and trenches.

■Many a man of the 3rd Division spun round
and fell on the wet ground, for the enemy kept
up a steady fire, and one shell dropped, fizzing,
into a' parallel and exploded, killing fifteen of
the workers in a moment.

The Guadiana, too, rose in full flood and tore
away the pontoon bridge which connected us
with our stores at Elvas : it was replaced, how-
ever, and the garrison of Badajoz saw us creeping
nearer and nearer to their walls, until, at last,
our men finding the fire from the Picurina
terribly galling, it was decided to storm that fort
on the 24th.

The rain had ceased, and the dark mass of
the fort, held by some of the Hesse-Darmstadt
Regiment, loomed up, stern and silent, as five
hundred of Picton's Division mustered before
it about nine o'clock on a fine night.

A hundred men were kept in reserve, while
the remainder, divided into two bodies, were to
advance against the right and left flanks, also
securing the communication with San Roque to
prevent any succour coming from the town.

Scarcely had the word to march been given,
when soaring rockets went up from the ramparts,
port-fires illuminated the darkness in places, and
the stillness became a babel of sounds, as shells
came hissing towards us, drums rolled, and the
bells of Badajoz rang wildly amid the deep
booming of the heavy cannon. Red flashes
streamed through the openings in the palisading,
the Hesse-Darmstadt opened a murderous fire,
but we swarmed irresistibly up the rocks and
groped for the gate, the pioneers of the Light
Division leading with their axes.

Down in the communication our fellows re-
pulsed a battalion coming to the rescue, but it
seemed for a time as if we had been bafiled ; the
sides of the hill were dotted with our dead.
Oates, of the Connaught Rangers, three engineer
officers, with Majors Rudd and Shaw, who com-
manded the attack, and many a private soldier
had fallen there. But as Powis, of the 83rd,

brought up the reserve and forced the palings in
front, the pioneers discovered the gateway on
the town side, and, battering it down, rushed in
with a shout.

Nixon, of the 52nd, was shot two yards within
the entrance, and we fought with gun-butt and
bavonet against a most heroic resistance ; but at
last they were overpowered, and half the garrison
slain. One officer and thirty men floundered
through the inundation and gained Badajoz in
safety, but brave Gaspard Thierry, with the
eighty-six survivors, were compelled to surrender,
and the death-dealing Picurina was ours.

The firing from the town ceased at midnight,
but with the dawn of day they turned their guns
on to the captured fort, driving us out and
crumbling it to pieces.

Philippon had hoped to have held the work
for four or five days, while he completed certain
partially-finished defences, and its capture and
destruction were a severe blow to him. But he
urged his garrison to fresh efforts by reminding
them of the English prison-hulks, which, as
Napier justly says, were a disgrace to our country.

Three breaching-batteries were now con-
structed, one against the Trinidad bastion,
another to shatter the Santa Maria, and the
third — which consisted of howitzers — was to
throw shrapnel into the ditch, and so prevent
the garrison from working there. We had been
eleven days before the town, and in spite of all
the obstacles had made considerable progress,
although latterly a bright moon had interfered
with our nocturnal operations.

Overcoats were laid aside, and our men ap-
peared in the well-worn scarlet coatee with
white-tape lace, and the black knee-gaiter,
which was the dress of a British-infantry private
at that time. Pigtails had been done away
with four years previously, and the well-known
grey trousers were not issued to the troops
until the following September. The Rifle Corps
wore dark green, and used a wooden mallet to
drive the ball down the grooved barrel ; fusiliers
and the grenadier companies of the line had
bearskin caps, and light infantry were dis-
tinguished by green tufts in their felt shakoes,
while our Portuguese friends were mostly clad in
blue or brown, with green for the cacadorcs^ or
riflemen, each man carrying — including knap-
sack, accoutrements, kit, and weapons, etc. — a
weight of seventy-five pounds twelve ounces, or
ten pounds more than their opponents. The
soldiers were enraged at the inhabitants of
Badajoz for admitting the French, a sentiment

THE TAKING OF BADAJOZ.

259

which boded ill to them if we took the town.
But, in the meantime, many instances of pluck on
both sides were exhibited. One morning, early,
before the working-party arrived, a brave fellow
crept out of Badajoz and moved a tracing-string
nearer to the walls, so that when we began
digging in fancied security, their guns suddenly
opened and bowled the men over like nine-pins.
Another time, two of our officers and some men
stole forward in the night, gagged a sentry, and
laid barrels of powder against the dam which
confined the inundation, and got back in safety ;
but the explosion did not have the desired effect.

At last, the stones began to fall from the
Trinidad bastion, amid clouds of dust, as ball
after ball went home with terrific force ; the
Santa Maria also crumbled under the cannonade,
but, being casemated, it resisted better than the
other, which, bv the 2nd of April, yawned in a
manner that must have dismayed the garrison,
for they commenced to form what is known as a
retrenchment, or second line of defence, within
the walls, by levelling houses behind the growing
breach. In places where the fortifications had not
been completed the energetic Frenchman himg
brown cloth which resembled earth, and his men
were able to pass freely along ; they also made a
raft with parapets and crossed the inundation to
our side. But all their efforts were useless : the
breaches became larger as masses of stone and
rubbish fell like mimic avalanches into the
fosse below ; and, on the 6th, a tremendous gap
showed in the ancient masonr}- of the curtain
between the two bastions which had not been
renewed when the bastions themselves were
rebuilt about 1757.

Then came a moment's pause. Soult, Drouet,
and Daricau were advancing : a battle was
imminent, and would need all our forces. In
twenty-one days we had expended 2,523 barrels of
gunpowder, each barrel containing ninetv pounds,
and we had fired 35,34b rounds of ammunition.
Badajoz must be taken at all risk ; and orders
were now given for the most terrible of all
species of warfare — the ni'ght-attack by storm .'

Wellington's commands were precise and to
the point, but they were terribly eloquent to
those who read them. I have extracted a few
paragraphs from the original memorandum, and
give them word for word : —

'"I. The fort of Badajoz is to be attacked at
10 o'clock this night (6th of April). 2. The
attack must be made on three points — the castle,
the face of the bastion of La Trinidad, and the

flank of the bastion of Santa Maria. 3. The
attack of the castle to be by escalade ; that of
the two bastions, bv the storm of the breaches.
... 20. The 4th Division must try and get
open the gate of La Trinidad ; the Light
Division must do the same by the gate called
the Puerta del Pillar. 21. The soldiers must
leave their knapsacks in camp. ... 24. Twelve
carpenters with axes, and ten miners with crow-
bars, must be with the Light, and ditto with the
4th Division."

The time had been altered from 7.30 to
10 o'clock, and during that interval the French
placed the celebrated chcvaiix-dc-frise of
sharpened sword-blades in the gap we had made
in the contiecting curtain ; piles of shot and
shell were laid along the ramparts, with beams
of wood, old carriage-wheels, and every conceiv-
able missile that their ingenuity could devise ;
each soldier had three loaded muskets beside
him, and, as the unusual stillness in our trenches
warned them that something was in prepara-
tion, an officer tried to reconnoitre us with a
little escort of cavalry, but we drove him back,
and all was quiet once more.

It was the calm before the storm, and men
grew silent and thoughtful as the time drew near.

Letters were written home by hands that
would never use pen again ; absent friends were
talked of in hushed voices, wills hastily made as
in the presence of death ; the married soldiers
lingered in their quarters till the last moment,
and then gave it out that they were '' going on
guard " !

The April day drew into evening ; a grey
mist rose from the river and stole among the
trenches and the marsliy ground, where frogs
piped dismally and field-crickets kept up their
perpetual chirp ; then night came, still and
cloudv, not a star visible, but here and there
lights flitted along the ramparts, and the chal-
lenge of the sentries could be distinctly heard.

There was no bustle to show that eighteen
thousand men were forming for a desperate
attack ; company after company they mustered
and got under arms silently, words of command
being given in a whisper.

Picton had been hurt by a fall, and his famous
3rd Division was led by Kempt in consequence.

Its destination was the castle, whose walls were
from eighteen to twenty-four feet high ; and the
regiments which formed it were the 5th, 45th,
74th, 77th, 83rd, 88th, and 94th British, and the
qth and 21st Portuguese.

The 5th Division, under Lieutenant-General

26o

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

Leith — composed also of English and Portuguese
— had to make a feint upon the Pardaleras out-
work to the left, and then march round and
storm the San Vincente bastion in rear of the
town, while General Power made a false attack
on the bridge-head beyond the Guadiana.

in, and about 9 o'clock four companies of the
qSth Rifles crept forward and lay down, tmder
the crest of the glacis, within a few yards of the
French sentinels, whose heads could be seen,
passing to and fro, against the sky.

Not a word was spoken as they crouched,

SPAIN & PORTUGAL

to illustrate
THE PENINSULAR WAR.

Eng:lish Miles
50 100

The Light Division and the 4th, under
Generals Colville and Barnard, were to tackle
the trenches, and were composed of the follow-
ing corps — the Light having the 43rd, 52nd, and
95th British, the ist and 3rd Portuguese Caca-
dores ; and the 4th Division, the 7th, 23rd, 27th,
40th, 48th, and 97th British, with the i ith and
23rd Portuguese, and the ist Battalion of the
Lusitanian Legion.

(The trench-guards and the " forlorn hope "' fell

unnoticed, in the mist that veiled their dark
uniforms. They waited the arrival of the " forlorn
hope '' to begin the attack. At length a sentry
peered over the parapet : something had caught
his quick ear, for he cried " Qui vivcf^'' and
there was a moment of keen suspense.

Not satisfied, he again challenged, and, receiv-
ing no reply, fired his musket into the darkness ;
and instantly the drums of Badajoz beat to arms.

Still, for ten minutes more the riflemen lay

THE TAKING OF BADAJOZ. 261

motionless, until the "forlorn hope" came up, and trenches and broken ground, and, filing over the

then, each man sighting carefully at the heads Rivillas by a narrow bridge, reached the foot of

above the rampart, they poured in a volley, and the castle' wall under a heavy fire,
the attack began. Brave Kempt, who afterwards fought at

It was unfortunate— as it happened— for Waterloo, fell, badly wounded, and as thev

"the next they were
leaping, sliding, climb-
ING " (/. 262).

Wellington wished all our assaults to take place
bimultaneousl}-, but it could not be undone ;
moreover the garrison threw a huge mass of
combustibles, called '"a carcass," from the walls,
and b}' its powerful blaze they saw the 3rd
Division drawn up underarms; so, "Stormers
to the front ! " was our cry, and we rushed on
■with an uproar of cheers and shouting.

The ladder-parties and those carrying the
grass-bags ran forward, scrambling across the

carried him back he met Picton hurrying to take-
command with his sword drawn.

The 3rd Division had only twelve ladders, and
eighty to a hundred men were all that could
mount at a time ; but they reared them against
the masonry, and fought with each other who
should be first to ascend.

262

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

Stones, earth, live shells, beams, heavy shot,
and a rain of musket balls poured down ; those
who reached the top were stabbed and flung on
to the others behind them — here a cheer as a
man grasped the coping — there a howl of rage as
the ladder was hurled broken from the wall and
all its occupants flung in a heap below.

" Forward the 5th Fusiliers — Come on, Con-
naught Rangers." A corporal of the 45th fell
wounded on hands and knees, a ladder was
placed on his back in the confusion, his com-
rades mounting above him, and he was found
next day crushed to death, the blood forced from
his ears and nose.

Several of the ladders were broken, and those
that remained were flung off" repeatedly b}- the
garrison on the ramparts, until the French cried
" Victory," and the 3rd Division retired for a
moment, to re-form under the crest of the hill.

Meanwhile, the 4th and Light Divisions, after
a double allow^ance of grog had been served out,
marched quickly on to the breaches, and the
trench-guard rushed at San Roque with such
fury that they bayoneted its defenders and
carried the lunette without a rebuff.

As the stormers of the Light Division moved
off. Major Peter O'Hare — who had risen from
the ranks to a commission in the 95th (a most
unusual thing in those days), and who was, more-
over, one of the ugliest men and one of the
bravest in the army — shook hands with George
Simmonds, of the Rifles, saying — " A lieutenant-
colonel or cold meat in a few hours ! " They
found him next morning stone dead and stark
naked, wath nearly a dozen bullets in his gallant
frame. Officers were divided into two categories
by the Peninsular soldiers — the "Come on '' and
the " Go on." O'Hare was one of the former.

As the firing commenced at the castle, the
heads of the double columns reached the glacis
to find all quiet and the place wrapped in
profound gloom.

The ditch yaw-ned beneath them, and the
stormers threw their grass-bags, which measured
some six feet by three feet, into it, lowered the
five ladders which did duty for both divisions,
and the " forlorn hope " of the Light Division
descended into the chasm, doomed to a man !

A musket-shot told them that the silence was
a treacherous one ; but none were prepared for
the awful scene that followed. The ditch was
crowded with the stormers, and men waited
their turn to follow down the ladders, when all
at once a tongue of flame lit up the darkness, a

terrific explosion seemed to rend the earth itself,
and five hundred brave fellows were blown into
eternity under the eyes of their comrades on the
glacis above them.

One second's space the Light Division stood
aghast, the next, they were leaping, sliding,
climbing, never heeding the depth, into the gory
grave that lay between them and the breaches,,
with a roar that went echoing along the walls of
Badajoz — a roar of fury never to be appeased
until bayonet should meet bayonet on the tower-
ing ramparts, fringed with the foe, beyond.

Down poured the 4th Division and mingled
with them : the ditch was full of shouting red-
coats, all struggling, regardless of rank, to get at
the French, who, yelling defiance in their turn,
showered grape, round shot, canister, hand
grenades, stones, shells, and buckshot upon
them ; rolling huge cannon-balls from the
parapet, sending baulks of timber thudding into
the tumult, and coach-wheels that acquired a
fearful velocity as the}' bounded down the rocks
into the living mass of British valour pent up in
the death-trap below.

Bursts of dazzling light were succeeded by
moments of intense darkness ; for an instant the
huge bastions showed, bristling with armed men,
to be lost again in a St)'gian gloom, re-illumined
the next minute by the flashing guns — by
wavering port fires, and trailing rockets. A
hundred Albuera men of the Fusiliers were
drowned in an unexpected water-ditch ; the
air was heavy w-ith gunpowder smoke and the
sickening stench of the stagnant pools ; indi-
viduals and regiments alike surged and scrambled
to find a passage ; until at last, getting on to an
unfinished ravelin, mistaken in the confusion foi'
a breach, both divisions w-ere jumbled together,
and great disorder ensued.

Wellington, watching from a hill, and seeing
the pause, exclaimed repeatedly : " What can be
the matter ? " sending aide-de-camp after aide-
de-camp to report progress, as the glare revealed
the faces on the ramparts and the peculiar
hollow booming reached him, caused by the
garrison firing down into the cavernous depths
of the ditch.

At length there was a rush for the great
breach. Officers and men, having extricated
themselves from the carnage below, rushed on,
to find an impenetrable barrier of sword-
blades fixed in wooden beams and set firmly
across the opening, while the debris in front was
strewn with planks covered with spikes : if a
soldier trod on one of them it slid down, either

THE 5TH DIVISION STORMING BY ESCALADE THE RAMPARTS OF SAN VINCENTE (A 2671.

THE TAKING OF BADAJOZ.

263

throwing him on the spikes or sending him
back on to the bayonets of his comrades ; and, to
crown all, the garrison rolled barrels of powder
into the middle of us, which exploded with
shocking effect, filling the nostrils with the
smell of burning flesh and singed hair, and
strewing the breach with scarlet figures in every
conceivable attitude of agony and death !

Our gallant fellows charged madly in masses,
in groups, and even singly, one private of the
Rifles forcing himself among the sword-blades,
where the enem}^ shattered his bare head with
their musket-butts.

It was not until the cruel slaughter had lasted
two hours that the diminished divisions with-
drew to the bottom of the slope and stood
furious and exhausted, but powerless to effect
their aim, and still under a fire that was
thinning their broken ranks, while the enemy
cried mockingly down to them, ''Why don't
you come into Badajoz ? '' Captain Nicholas, of
the Engineers, gathered a few men and made
frantic efforts to force the Santa Maria breach,
and he was joined by Lieutenant Shaw, of the
43rd, who collected fifty men from various
regiments and struggled over the broken
masonry with them, but, two-thirds of the wav
up a hail of balls and hissing grape-shot mowed
them nearly all down, and the divisions re-
mained stolidly confronting inevitable death,
unable to advance, unwilling to retire, for the
bugles sounded twice unheeded, while, strange
irony it seemed, a bright moon shining peace-
fully overhead, the Santa Maria, or " Holy
Mar}-," looking down upon them on the one
hand. La Trinidad, " The Trinity," on the other,
and all around an Inferno such as Dante never
dreamed of ! About midnight Wellington
ordered them back to re-form for another attack,
and in the meantime Picton's Division, whom
we left also re-forming, had rushed forward again,
led by Colonel Ridge, who placed a ladder
against the castle wall, where an embrasure
offered a chance of foothold. A grenadier
officer named Canch reared a second one along-
side it, and the two mounted together, followed
by their men, securing the ramparts after a
desperate hand-to-hand conflict, and driving
the enemy out of the castle into the town.

The garrison sent a reinforcement, and there
was a sharp passage of arms at the gate, our
redcoats firing from one side almost muzzle to
muzzle with the blue-clad, square-shakoed
French on the other ; but we kept the castle,
though, unhappily, the gallant Ridge was slain.

Our reserves found the two ladders still
standing, the top rungs of one being broken ;
and w'hen the 28th Regiment practised storming
a dry bridge with these, a couple of months
afterwards, they were even then covered with
blood and brains !

It was about half-past eleven when the 3rd
Division succeeded in their escalade, and, re-
tarded by unforeseen obstacles, it was not until
the same hour or thereabouts that the 5th
Division, under Lieutenant-General Leith, came
under the breastwork before San Vincente at
the west end of the town. As the ist, 4th, 9th,
30th, 38th, and 44th Regiments, with a Portu-
guese brigade, halted, undiscovered, a few yards
from a guard-house where the French could be
heard talking, the roar of a distant explosion
sounded, and the men whispered among them-
selves, " It is at the breaches ! ''

All was intensely silent around them ; the
murmur of the river rose on their left, the
fortifications showed clearly before them as the
moon came out ; they knew that their comrades
far off on the other side of the citadel were
engaged, and an eager thrill went through the
ranks. A sentinel discovered the mass of men
and the glint of the moonbeams on the bayonets
at the moment when our engineer guide ex-
claimed " Now's the time ! " and as he fired we
ran forw^ard against the gateway.

Seized by a sudden panic the Portuguese
ladder-party bolted, but we snatched up the
heavy ladders and our axemen chopped fearlessly
at the gate and wooden palings that fringed the
covered-way, while from the walls which
tow-ered thirty-one feet overhead, the same
tempest of beams, and shot, and bags of powder
showered down on the heads of the 5th
Division.

We cleared the paling and jumped into the
ditch, crossing the cunette with difficultv and
finding the ladders too short for our purpose ;
the engineer was killed, and a small mine
exploded under our feet, but, as luck would have
it, the ramparts at San Vincente had been
thinned of some of their defenders, who had gone
off at the double to attack Picton's men in the
castle, and we placed three ladders under an
embrasure where there w'as a gabion instead of
a gun, and where the scarp was only twenty
feet high.

Hand over hand, the troops clambered up
under a concentrated fire that dropped them off
by dozens, and the topmost stormers had to be
pushed up by those behind before they could

264

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

reach the embrasure, as the ladders were all too
short ; but at last the bold fellows got a foothold,
and pulled the others up alongside them, until
the redcoated mass grew larger and larger, and
half the King's Own charged the houses while
the rest of the division went roaring along
the ramparts. Brown Bess in hand, hurling the
stubborn garrison out of three bastions in suc-
cession. There was a great shouting, mingled
with the scream of the grape-shot and the
whistling hum of shells ; yells, howls, prayers
and curses were drowned or half-heard amid

BADAJOZ

1812.

the I boom of cannon and the incessant bang-
bang of the deadly muskets fired at close-
quarters.

The awestruck watchers on the hill above
our camp stood in an agony of suspense, spec-
tators of the terrific struggle ; the entire citadel
seemed full of flame and noise, as mine after
mine exploded, and fire-ball after fire-ball
was flung over the walls to light the besieged
in their heroic resistance : never had Napoleon's
soldiers fought with more determined gallantry,
officer and man vying with each other in their
\ efforts to keep us out, and as we drove them
from one defence they retired into another and
stood once more at bay.

Pbilippon, and Vielland, the second in com-
mand, though both wounded, flew from rampart
to rampart, sword in hand, encouraging their
brave fello\vs b}- word and deed, while the

solemn chime of the cathedral rang out un-
noticed hour after hour of that night of horrors.
A strange incident occurred at San Vin-
cente when General Walker fell riddled
with balls on the parapet : either bv accident
or design, he made a masonic sign as he
staggered backwards, and a brother-mason in
the French ranks dashed aside the threatening"
bayonets of his countrj'men and saved him :
afterwards, it is said, the general found his
preserver a prisoner-of-war in Scotland, and
procured his exchange in remembrance of his
chivalry on the ramparts of Badajoz.
The sth Division had obtained firm
hold, knowing nothing of what was
happening at the castle or the breaches,
and as a portion of them were pursuing
the eneni}- along the walls they rounded
an angle and came upon a solitary- gun
with one artiller\-man, who flung a
port-fire down as they approached.

Instantly there arose a cry of "A
mine ! a mine ! " and oxir fellows retired
helter-skelter, followed by a fresh bodv
under \''ielland, who drove them back
to the parapet again and pitched
several over into the ditch, but a re-
serve of the 38th, under Colonel
Nugent, about two hundred strong,
poured a volley into them, and we
rallied and charged along the wall
towards the breaches.

The King's Own had entered the
town at the first onslaught of Leith's
Division, and a strange contrast they
found it to the uproar of the bas-
tions, as, with bayonets fixed and bugles blow-
ing, they filed through the streets, silent and
deserted as the tomb ; every door shut, lamps
alight in many of the windows, but nor a soul
abroad, except some soldiers leading ammunition
mules, who were promptl}' taken prisoners.

Sometimes a window opened and was imme-
diately closed again ; voices were heard, but the
speakers were invisible ; a f<iw shots came from
beneath the doors, but they were unheeded, and
the adventurous 4th continued its march into
the great square, where the same silence reigned,
although the houses round it were brilliantly
lighted.

The renewed fur\- at the breaches turned their
steps in that direction, and they hurried off" to
take the garrison in rear : the attempt was well
meant, but they were met b}- a fire that repulsed
them, and they continued their wandering

THE TAKING OF BADAJOZ.

26:

down streets and lanes, but the French began
to be disheartened,, as well they might.

The castle in our possession they could pos-
sibly have besieged from the town side, as there
was only one gate by which the 3rd Division
could have issued ; the Trinidad and Santa
Maria were also well-nigh impregnable in spite
of their shattered condition, had the garrison

town's our own, hurrah ! " and the carnage-
maddened men, breaking from all control, began
a wild org}', which lasted for two days and two
nights, indelibly sullying the glory of our
triumph.

Churches and mansions were entered and
pillaged ; costly sacramental plate and silver
money from the military chest strewed the

WILL VOL" DRINK, OLD BOY ?
(/. 266).

been able to concentrate there, but the forcing
of San Vincente had let us in behind them, and
the struggle was only a mattter of time ; so,
brave Philippou and Vielland, with their rem-
nants, forced the bridge and shut themselves up
in San Christoval across the Guadiana, sending
a few horsemen on the spur to carry news to
Soult, and, the bleeding 4th and Light Divisions
scrambling up again and rushing the breaches,
Bad.\joz was ours !

As the heavy firing died away towards
morning, a might}' shout arose inside the walls,
caught up and echoed ftir and near by our
victorious soldiery, " Hurrah ! hurrah ! the

'^ rugged pavement of the
town ; wine flowed down
the gutters as freely as
blood had done on the
ramparts, and men stag-
gered along with their
shakoes full of liquor. One bestrode a cask with
a loaded musket and compelled officer and
private alike to drink as they passed him ; here
a group fired aimlessly down a street, caring
little whom thev hit, others blazed away at the
convent bells, while some masqueraded in court-
dresses, in French uniforms, and monks' cowls,
howling, singing, dancing, like men possessed.

Many of the wretched inhabitants placed
lighted candles and flasks of aquadienta on their
tables and sought to hide themselves, hoping the
marauders would drink and go away ; they
drank, but every cranny of the house was ran-
sacked before they took their leave, and things

266

BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

were done of which we cannot speak, for the
sake of humanity and the honour of the army.

'' The town is ours, hurrah I "

Women and children ran shrieking to the
officers for protection, which, alas, it was not
always in their power to afford. Many an
indignant subaltern risked his life among his
own men in frantic attempts to recall them to
order ; an officer of the Brunswickers was shot
while struggling for the possession of a canary
bird ; one party was seen tormenting a wounded
baboon that had belonged to the colonel of the
4th French Regiment. And breaking open the
jail, thev Jiberated the prisoners, some of the
5th and 88th holding candles aloft as the scum
of a Spanish prison poured out to add to the
disorder. Wellington himself was surrounded
by a mob of drunkards, who fired their muskets
to his infinite peril, shouting as they brandished
bottles of wine and brandy — '' Will you drink,
old boy ? The town's our own, hurrah ! "

At length a gallows with three nooses reared
its ominous form in the square, and a man
named Johnny Castles, of the 95th, was placed
beneath it ; but no one was hanged, and by
degrees the troops were drawn out of the town,
credited with ha\ ing murdered eighty-five of the
inhabitants — in actual fact, the number being
thirty-two. In fearful contrast to the licence
within the walls was the scene outside. Philip-
pon had surrendered to the future Lord Raglan,
and retired from the service, in 1816, a General
of Division, Baron of the Empire, and wearer of
the Legion of Honour and the Order of St.
Louis. The ditch, the slope, from the edge of
the glacis to the top of the bastions, resembled a
huge slaughter-house, nearly 2,500 of our men
having fallen between the Santa Maria and La
Trinidad alone, within a space of a hundred
equare yards ; the 43rd and 52nd, respectively

the gayest and the most sedate regiments in
Spain, losing 670 men between them, and the
place presenting an vmusually shocking appear-
ance from the explosions which had taken place
there.

In one place the wife of a grenadier of the
83rd moaned over the corpse of her husband ; in
another a little drummer-boy of the 88th lay
with his leg broken beside his dead father ; the
most heartrending sights were witnessed as the
women and children sought frantically for their
dear ones amid thousands of bodies, and the
mangled fragments of what had once been living
men .

Amid the horror of it all, two Spanish ladies
came out of the town and implored two officers
of the Rifles to assist them : one of them, Donna
Juana Maria de los Dolores de Leon, afterwards
married her protector, who became Sir Harry
Smith, of Aliwal fame, and was long a prominent
figure in English society — a curious instance of
the "romance of war."

We took the colours of the garrison and
the Hesse-Darmstadt, but there were no eagles
in the town. The first man to die at the Santa
Maria was a Portuguese grenadier, and there
was a storj' current in the army that Jose de
Castro, bugle-boy of the 7th Ca^adores, had
sounded the French " recall '' at a critical
moment, for which he received a hundred
guineas from the Earl of Wellington : certain it
is that when a very old man, gaining a bare
living by teaching the cornet in the town of
Golega, he was still petitioning the Portuguese
Government for a pension.

Five generals wounded, five thousand officers
and men fallen during the siege — that is the
story of Badajoz. And when Wellington stood
in the breach and looked around him, stern
Spartan though he was, he burst into tears.

£ ¥ T the invitation of the newly-created
^^\ Repubhc of Chili, Admiral Thomas
1 -IL Cochrane, tenth Earl of Dundonald,
sailed from England in the month
of August, 1818, in the Rose, merchantman,
to organise and take supreme command of
the Chilian navy. With him he took, be-
sides his wife and two children, English naval
officers upon whom he could rely in the
arduous fighting he was soon to engage in
against the superior armaments of Spain. He
landed on November 28th at Valparaiso, whither
General O'Higgins, Supreme Director of the
Chilian Government, had come to receive him.
His reception was so warm both at Valparaiso
and at Santiago, the capital, and the continua-
tion of proposed festivities in his honour
threatened to be so prolonged, that he had to
remind his Excellency O'Higgins that he had
come to Chili to fight, and not to feast.

Preparations were accordingly pushed for-
ward to get such ships of war as the Chilians
possessed into some kind of fighting order.
These ships were the O' Htggins, formerly the
Marta Isabel, a Spanish frigate of 50 guns, which
the Chilians had captured and re-named
after their adored chief ; the San Martin^
formerly the Cumberland^ Indiaman, with 56
guns ; the Laiitaro, also a purchased Indiaman,
with 44 guns ; the Galvarino^ recently the
British sloop-of-war Hecate^ with 18 guns ;
the Chacabuco^ with 20 guns ; and the Araiicano^
with 16 guns. This modest squadron of seven
vessels was to contend with and conquer the
Spanish fleet, made up of four frigates — the
Esmeralda, 44 guns, the Vcnganza, 42 guns,
the Scbastiana , 28 guns ; four brigs — the Maipo,
18 guns, the Peznela, 22 guns, the Potn'llo, 18
guns, and another, whose name is not known ;
one schooner, name not known ; six armed mer-
chantmen — the Resolution, 36 guns, the Cleopatra,
28 guns, La Focha^ 20 guns, the Giiarmey,

18 guns, the Fernando, 26 guns, and the San
Antonio, 18 guns ; and twentv-seven gunboats.

Such were the opposing forces, whose opera-
tions for the next two vears now were to
command the attention of the civilised world.
Under any other but Cochrane's leadership the
result could never have been doubtful. Coch-
rane, however, had alreadv shown under the
British flag that odds made no difference to
him — a reputation that he was still further to
maintain.

It is necessarv here to say that though Chili
had vanquished the Spanish forces in the in-
terior and had overthrown the Spanish Govern-
ment, her long line of coast was still exposed to
attacks from the Spanish fleet. Besides, the
enemy still held the impregnable forts that
commanded the port of Valdivia. These
advantages, added to the fact that her power in
Peru was still intact, made Spain even vet a
formidable foe to the newlv-acquired liberties
of the Chilians. Thus, before Chili could rest
assured that Spanish dominion would not again
be re-asserted over her, she must break the
power of the S